Saved
by jazzerciser
Summary: Charlie Weasley saved my life. And now, he's gone.
1. Code Black (Run for the hills!)

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JKR! Enjoy!**

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**Code Black (aka Run for the Hills!)**

**_'_**_Look at her; I'm surprised any of the guys can lift her.'_

_'Only Andrew can, because he's the strongest. That's why he's always her partner.'_

_'That leotard is so unflattering, how does she have the nerve to wear it?'_

_'She's just so fat. I can't believe she thinks she can be a ballerina. I mean, how can you be a dancer when no one can even _**_lift_**_ you?'_

I couldn't stop the voices from taking over my thoughts. I crouched down in the corner of the dressing room, my hands over my ears, wondering what my friends would say if they could see me now. Confident Cadence, they used to call me. Nothing ever bothered me, no one could ever get to me. I was a prefect, a leader, a respected student. I lived my life the way that I wanted, and I was happy. But now I was miserable.

'I am disgusting,' I thought, blinking back tears as I stood up and stared at myself in the dressing room mirror. I pinched a roll of fat between my thumb and forefinger. I loathed myself with every fiber of my being, and I hurriedly pulled on the last leotard so that I could stop staring at myself naked. Ugh, I looked like a walrus. Or a hippogriff. I really had let myself get so out of hand this summer, no wonder the boys at American Ballet Theatre had trouble lifting me. They lifted all the other girls so easily, but I was the challenge. The one that no boy wanted to partner. I yanked off the leotard and redressed myself in my jeans and long-sleeved gray shirt, which I wore despite the heat of summer.

As I paid for all of my dancewear, I noticed a gaggle of teenaged girls laughing as they crossed the street and entered an ice cream shop. They all looked so happy and beautiful and thin that it made me sick to my stomach. I shook my head, this time successfully clearing my thoughts, and headed out the door with my purchases. Unfortunately, the sun was so blinding that I ran right into someone.

"I'm so sorry!" I blathered as I bent down to pick up the parcels that I had dropped. "I couldn't see where I was going because of the sun…"

A hand reached down to grab the last bag and handed it to me. A flash of light rebounded off of a familiar looking ring with the Gryffindor crest on it. As we stood up, the person blocked out the sun and my suspicions were confirmed as I caught sight of a familiar face.

"Oh, hi, Charlie!" I said, blushing. "I'm so sorry for running into you."

The tall, stocky male stood, handing me the last parcel. "It's really no problem, was just an accident. Heading into Diagon Alley, I presume?"

I tucked my hair behind my ear. "Yeah, I was just buying some new dance clothes before meeting Amelie outside Madam Malkins'."

"Right, right…well, I was just heading there myself, so would you er, care to walk with me?" Charlie asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. This was so awkward. Charlie Weasley had never exactly liked me.

I nodded shyly. "Sure." We began walking stiffly. After a few moments Charlie asked me how my summer had gone.

"Oh it was really good; I spent most of it in the States doing a ballet program." I fidgeted with my sleeve as I thought about the hell that was American Ballet Theatre.

_'You know, you're lucky I'm even doing this for you.' Collin was stripping my shirt off, kissing me down the neck. 'There's so many other girls who I could be with right now. Girls who don't have thighs the size of tree trunks.' _

Charlie raised his brows. "Really?" he said as he tapped the brick. "That's pretty, er, wicked. Beats the ruddy hell out of my summer. I worked at the Magical Menagerie, a _lot, _and made up a bunch of quidditch plays for the new season."

There was a good chance that my face was on fire, it was so hot. I casually brushed my fingers up against my cheek. Nope, no fire. "Oh it really wasn't a big deal… And that still sounds pretty great. I love that shop, with all the owls and puffskeins." The two of us stepped through the newly appeared archway.

He chuckled. "Funny story about those puffskeins actually. So, about two weeks ago, I was opening up the store, and this woman walks in, and-"

"Charlie!" a shrill voice from behind us called out. "Charlie Weasley!"

We both stopped short and turned around, only to find ourselves face to face with (the devil) Abigail Whitaker. Her honey blond hair was perfectly tousled, her blue eyes outlined with charcoal, and her smile revealed the whitest teeth I had ever seen. I got tanner just from the glare her teeth gave off. Damn her. I was, for the first time in my life, having an actual conversation with Charlie Weasley.

"Oh, hello Abigail, how are you?" Charlie asked, smiling absently as he looked down at her. She seemed like a midget in comparison to the two of us, standing at a resounding 5'3".

She tossed another megawatt smile his way and flipped her golden hair over her shoulder, looking like a donkey braying. Not that I was bitter. "Oh, I'm fantastic now that I've run into you! Over the summer I came up with a bunch of proposals to give to McGonagall about having a cheer squad for our quidditch team!" As she bounced up and down her massive (fake) chest went all over the place. I looked away while Charlie openly stared, crossing my arms over my own miniscule breasts.

He forced himself to look her in the face again. "Sounds great Abigail. I'm sure this new season will be smashing."

She laid a hand on his forearm. "Of course it will be; we have you as our captain! Now, I'm afraid I have to run; I promised Griffon and Anders that I'd meet them at Florean's! Such is the busy life of Abigail!" she giggled. Gag me. "Well, I'm off! Bye Charlie! Oh, and you too Weaver, I suppose." With another fake smile tossed our way, she turned on her heel and flounced away, her shoes clacking on the cobblestone.

Charlie coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'd best be headed to Quidditch Quality Supplies. I promised my mum I'd be home to help her with our garden. We've got a bit of a gnome problem," he added at my curious expression.

I nodded and smiled slightly. "Ah, sounds like a ton of fun. I'd best be off as well, or else Amelie will have my head."

He nodded faintly. "Well I, uh, suppose I'll see you on the train then. See you around Weaver."

"See you," I spoke shyly. Charlie abruptly walked away, and I headed in the opposite direction. That was probably the most interaction I had ever had with Charlie, despite the fact that we were in the same year and house at Hogwarts, and had all of our classes together for seven years.

I sighed and turned the corner past the apothecary. I caught sight of an extremely tall, lanky girl with a flower headband crammed into her long, brunette tresses looking around impatiently. She spotted me only a moment later and then flew over to me, her skinny but deceivingly strong arms catching me in a vice-like grip.

"Cadsy! It is soooo good to see you, I've missed you so much my darling!" she cried, spinning us around in an awkward circle as I tried not to lose my footing.

I managed to break away from her strong-hold and stepped back so that people wouldn't get the wrong idea about us and assume we were lesbians, as I'm sure many people at Hogwarts did. I gave her a quick once-over. Still tall, still awkward, skin still covered in paint smears…all in all she was still completely Amelie. "Phew, I thought a summer with Marguerite would change you into an Abigail!"

Amelie had spent the entire summer with her father and new step-mother, Marguerite, in France. Her step-mum was the perfect trophy wife: blonde, thin, vapid, and eager to please. In short, mine and Amelie's worst nightmare.

Amelie threw her head back in laughter. "Please! She gave up on trying to "improve my looks" after two days. I pulled my wand on her when she tried to dye my hair in my sleep."

I gasped. "She did not! Why didn't you mention that in any of your letters?"

"I'd quite prefer to forget about it." Amelie cringed. "I still wake up in sweats thinking about her wand at my temple and her French tips digging into my skull."

We shared a glance and shivered simultaneously. "Eurgh. I'm so glad it's time to go back," I said happily as we entered Madam Malkins'.

The two of us were still laughing about the Marguerite situation as we walked through the door, but as we caught sight of a head of familiar yellow hair we both froze.

"Amelie," I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. "Is that Humphrey Hummers over there?"

She nodded in horror. "It is. Quick. Code. Black," she muttered without moving her mouth. Immediately we ducked and covered, running behind the racks of robes towards the dressing rooms. Right before we hit the home stretch, my bags snagged themselves on a hanger and tore open. Bollocks.

I squeaked in horror and hurriedly tried to gather my things, but it was too late. We'd been spotted. I looked helplessly up at Amelie, who gave me a wide-eyed look before fleeing into the dressing rooms. Tosspot.

"Oh my, Cadence! Here, let me help you with that!" came the nasally voice of Humphrey Hummers, Hufflepuff Head Boy extraordinaire.

I worked faster, shoving tights and gauzy skirts back into the torn bags. "Really, I'm all right, no need!" I cried, my voice squeaking slightly in fear.

I tried to stand up on my own but then Humphrey's arms were around my shoulders and dragging me up.

"Gee, thanks, Humphrey," I said, struggling to keep the contempt out of my tone.

He touched my arm, much like Abigail had done to Charlie only minutes earlier, and my skin crawled. Great, now I would have to disinfect. "My pleasure Cadence. I am always happy to be of assistance to fair maidens such as yourself."

I heard Amelie snort from the dressing rooms and quickly turn it into a cough. "Er, right, well, Amelie is waiting for me so…" I trailed off as I took a step towards my cow of a friend.

"Wait, before you go, I just personally wanted to let you know how sorry I am that you didn't receive the position of Head Girl. I think it's a right shame, as we would have ruled extremely well side by side." Humphrey sounded so condescending that I actually turned back around to face him.

"Oh, that's so sweet Humphrey, but actually, I told Dumbledore specifically at the end of last term that I didn't want the position, as I'd be far too busy this year with ballet and my studies, and to take me out of the running for the spot," I said with a fake smile on my face.

He frowned. "Well…I'm still sorry to hear it! We would have made a great pair," he sighed wistfully. I managed another fake smile and then rushed after Amelie into the dressing rooms, sighing in relief as the door shut behind me.

"I hate you, you monstrous She-Beast," I declared as I flopped down in a chair across from a mirror. I glanced at my lumpy frame and then immediately shifted my gaze away, pulling at the shirt material by my hip.

Amelie grabbed a shirt off of the rack where items had been returned and held it up to herself.

"Paisley brings out your She-Beast qualities," I sulked. Amelie just laughed and put the shirt back. We hid for a few more minutes until we heard Humphrey leave the shop, his awkward "power" stride (or so he called it) very audible, and then returned to the main section of the store.

I wandered over to a rack where all of the robes were in various shades of red. "Why do you suppose they put dress robes on the list for school?" I asked as I picked a particularly Gryffindor-colored robe off of the rack. One can never have too much red as a Gryffie.

"Ooh, I like that, it's very Lioness," Amelie said. "And I'm not sure. There's obviously going to be some sort of dance. We'll find out tomorrow at the feast anyway. Hey, maybe it's because Dumbledore's getting married and they're holding the wedding at Hogwarts."

I raised a brow. "Out of all the possible scenarios you could've come up with, you chose that one? Amelie, the man's like seventy-five! If he hasn't married by now, he probably won't ever!"

"You are such a Negative Nelly! You're worse than the Grinch! 'He'll never get married before he croaks.' Sometimes Cadsy, I don't know how we get along so well," she sniffed, holding up two different robes, each one horrifyingly frilly and pink. "Which one?"

Choking, I snatched the eye-sores out of her hands and shoved them back onto the rack. "Amelie, just no. Here, look at this one!" I stuffed a violet, lacy robe into her arms. "And anyways, some people just aren't meant for love. They have other aspirations, such as being the greatest sorcerer to ever live, like Dumbledore." I sighed and avoided the mirror in front of me as I compared my skin tone with a blue robe.

"That's a load of horse-hockey and we both know it. There's someone for everyone. For example, I think Humphrey Hummers and Rachel Stevenson would make a smashing couple. Their children would be absolutely terrifying, but the couple itself would be a match made in heaven." Amelie looked at me knowingly as she adjusted her headband before gasping and whirling me around. "Cadsy, look! That dress and robe, they're perfect for you!"

The dress was a silver evening gown with a bodice made of ruched material that gathered at the hip before falling elegantly to the ground. There were two jeweled, conjoined straps going over the right shoulder. The robe was made of a gauzy silver material with diamonds studded into it in various swirls.

I scoffed. "Amelie, that's probably the most expensive thing in the shop. I'm not exactly made of money." My mind wandered to my nearly depleted bank account.

"Just try it on, please? For moi?" Amelie pouted and gave me the puppy dog stare with her deep brown eyes.

I folded my arms across my chest and held my position for five full seconds before cracking. It was so difficult saying no to her. "All right, but only if you stop looking at me like that. You're making me feel like I just pushed Professor Flitwick over or something."

Amelie squealed in glee and whisked me off into the dressing room. Oh no, another dressing room. With mirrors. I undressed and redressed myself in record time, nearly tearing the robes in my hurry. I took a breath as I did the side zipper up, and, without looking at myself, opened the door.

Immediately I was caught up in a flurry of dark, mussy hair as I was embraced. "YOU LOOK LIKE A FAIRY! A bloody fairy! You're so beautiful Cadsy; all the lads over in Fatty-a-go-go land must've been in love with you. Just look at yourself!" Amelie demanded. No lad had ever been in love with me. Not even Collin.

_I watched from across the dance studio as Collin played with Savannah's hair, leaning in slightly as he whispered to her. This didn't hurt, this didn't hurt, this didn't hurt. Savannah looked over at me and smirked, reaching her hand out to touch his bicep. Okay, now it hurt. What was so wrong with me?_

Bringing myself back to the present, I forced myself to look in the mirror. I actually looked…all right. The dress was a little lacking in the chest area, which I have to thank years of ballet training for, but that could be fixed with a few charms and chicken cutlets. The fabric clung to my hips in just the right way, complimenting my very faint hour-glass shape. The robes, the best part of the ensemble, were almost ethereal. I did a little twirl and it looked like I was giving off sunlight. I giggled and held my friend close. "I feel like a princess!"

"You look like one!" She laughed. "Now take it off so I can buy it for you!"

I stepped back. "What, no! Amelie, you can't! It says this is 299 galleons! That's a fortune!"

Amelie shrugged. "So…it can be your birthday and Christmas present…for the next five years! Please let me do this Cadsy, you'll never find robes like this ever again, and it looks so bloody good on you. Boys will be tripping over themselves to romance you."

I chewed on my lip. Though I doubted the part about the boys, the dress actually made me feel good about myself, which made it the only thing to have been able to do so for the past three months. And the robes…I would be the envy of every girl in the room. "All right, but this means I'm buying you those boots for Christmas this year."

She broke out into a smile. "Now go change!" she cried, slapping me on the bum.

After I changed and Amelie paid for the violet robe and my robes, we exited the shop. We were in there for so long that the sun had gone down and Diagon Alley had emptied.

We stood there with our purchases for a moment just surveying the sunset on the cobblestone of the street.

"I love this place," I sighed.

Amelie nodded. "Almost as much as I love Hogwarts. I can't wait to be back."

We hugged each other and promised to find each other on the platform the next morning before departing. I apparated into my kitchen and stumbled slightly on the landing due to all of my bags.

My mother was standing at the kitchen counter with my step-father, Will. Both were nursing drinks and laughing.

"Hey mum, Will," I said before immediately running up to my bedroom. I wouldn't say that I was unhappy with my home life, but it'd been a bit of a struggle at times. We weren't exactly well-off, and dance is a very expensive passion to have. She wanted me to quit, and I nearly did several times, but I just couldn't bear to give it up. I began touring with professional companies over the summers on scholarship and I couldn't go back after that.

Then there was my step-father; he was a bit of a dead beat. He worked in construction and despite the fact that he could be going out and getting a better job with his own benefits, he wouldn't, even when we were struggling to buy groceries. Sometimes I felt like I was going to suffocate in his selfishness.

My mother was a sales representative, currently unemployed. Her company was downsized and that was that. She had been doing odd jobs to pay the bills, and I know that killed her. Three degrees and walking ponies around on a kiddie-farm…but she did it so that she could take care of me, and help me finance my true passion. I have always loved her so much for it.

I shook my head clear of my thoughts and surveyed my room. I couldn't even see the floor. There were piles of school clothes, regular clothes, dance clothes, regular shoes, and dance shoes on my carpet. Textbooks and school supplies were littered across my bed. A ton of toiletries and pictures and posters were piled on top of my purple trunk. "Oh Merlin," I muttered, cursing my procrastination. I had barely managed to get my summer school work done this past week.

I opened my trunk and peered inside. The only thing that had been packed so far was my toothbrush; I'd forgotten to bring it last year and had to have my mum owl it to me. And seeing as how my mum wasn't the greatest with wizard mail, I wanted to make sure that I had it with me this year. I picked it up and placed it with the rest of my toiletries. Using my wand, I packed all of my school things, followed by my shoes and clothes, toiletries, and photographs. When I was done, my room was scarily empty. Posters were gone from the walls, leaving blank patches, pictures were gone from their place on my dresser, and my closet was barren.

A sudden wave of exhaustion hit me as I thought about this particular moment. I was about to leave for my final year at Hogwarts. After this I would be done with my schooling, and out in the real world, supporting myself. My future was so unclear at this point in time. Perhaps this time next year I would be back in America at a ballet company, or in Germany, or Russia, or Italy. I quickly change into pajamas and crawl into bed with thoughts of magic and school and…Charlie dancing around my head. Oh, Merlin save me.

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**A/N: Hey guys, this is my first story that I've ever posted online, so I would love it if you would take a few seconds to give me some feedback! Pretty nervous about displaying my stuff but hopefully you liked it!**


	2. Gryffinhoes and Fun-Bombs

**Gryffinhoes and Fun-Bombs (Whatever That Means)**

I stumbled out of bed at 9 am and blearily rubbed my eyes. As I began to make my way downstairs for some tea, I adjusted my shirt and shorts that I had worn to bed. The shorts were twisted nearly all the way around. I had a restless night with lots of tossing and turning. I will never admit to anyone but myself that I'd had six different dreams involving Charlie being my leading man in a ballet and he looked rather good in tights.

"Stupid," I muttered to myself. Charlie would never be my leading…anything. He had plenty of girls like Abigail Whitaker fawning over him; he didn't need me to be doing so as well. I set about making tea, the systematic rhythm of it strangely calming me. While I waited for the water to boil, I ate a few grapes from the fridge. When I saw my reflection in the shiny metal of the tea kettle, I immediately stopped.

I sat at the table and bitterly drank my tea. I was starving, but I couldn't bring myself to eat. The last thing I wanted was to go to the platform and have everyone stare at me and think about how much weight I'd gained.

My house was quiet. Will was probably still sleeping, and my mum was most likely reading a history book the size of Wales. With nothing to do for an hour or so, I settled in front of my telly and tried to ignore the hunger pangs as well as my thoughts of Charlie Weasley. I had no idea when he became so prominent in my thoughts. Maybe it was because this entire summer I had only been spending time with boys who were much more interested in each other rather than us girls in our leotards…and Collin.

_'Hey, can we talk for a minute?' I pulled Collin aside at the end of class, dragging him away from Felicia._

_He rolls his eyes, following me out into the hall. 'All right Chubs, what do you want?'_

_At this nickname, several girls nearby giggle and puff out their stomachs to look fat, like me. 'I, uh, I just wanted to know why you were ignoring me.' I felt supremely stupid, and folded my arms across my stomach, hoping everyone would stop staring. _

_Collin smirked and gave a little chuckle, placing one hand on the wall behind me. 'Look Cadence, you were great and everything, but if we're going to be honest, it just wasn't working out. And I'm with Savannah now, you can't be hung up on this! We've got our futures to think about, be smart.'_

_As he walked away, I imagined that the floor was my heart, crushed beneath his feet. _

'Think of the power you have over your body now Cadence,' I thought to myself as a particularly strong pang hit my stomach, bringing me back to reality. 'You can't gain weight if you don't eat.'

Finally, around 10am, my mother came down the stairs. "Cadence? Do you want Will to bring your things downstairs for you?"

I clicked off the television and wandered back into the kitchen. "No thanks Mum; I can just use my wand for that now."

"Right," she smiled sadly. "My little kitty cat's all grown up now! She doesn't need her mother for anything anymore…" And now she was tearing up. Fantastic.

"Mum, I still need you for lots of things," I said, trying to cheer her up. "I still can barely make macaroni on my own. And rice? Forget it. I burned it to the pan, remember that? I set off the smoke detectors!"

My mother sniffled. "You sound so proud of yourself. I had to throw that pan away! It was ruined by your Neanderthal cooking wiles."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. The hunger pangs went away and were replaced by pangs of longing. I was going to miss my mother so much. I always did. While I had Amelie, she was never really sympathetic. If I was ever upset, she would throw a shoe at my head, smack me on the butt, or tell me a joke involving dead puppies, thinking it would cheer me up. She was emotionally stunted. And dropped on her head as an infant. And then run over by a pack of unicorns, or a herd of care bears or something of that sort.

While I could scream at my mother until my face turned blue for not understanding, or ignore her for days at a time due to my teenage angst, when it came down to it, she was the person that had been there with me through it all. Through the blow out with my father, as well as his cancer, the death of my paternal grandmother and the reunion with that side of the family…if only she knew that I was starving myself now.

Great, now I was tearing up. I hastily wiped at my eyes. "I'm going to bring my stuff down, I need to get to the platform a little early to help Amelie. Her father's too busy to help her today." And with that I bolted up the stairs. A sudden bout of dizziness overtook me and the floor came rushing up to my face.

Sitting against the wall and waiting for the blackness to pass, I clutched at my stomach. I. Was. Ravenous. 'Control Cadence, control,' I thought, before standing and entering my room. In no time I was changed and standing in my kitchen, my trunk and satchel resting at my feet. I wrapped my arms around my mother once more, inhaling the scent of fresh parchment and begonias. With a few teary words about writing every week and a nod at Will, I gripped my wand and concentrated on Platform 9 ¾.

The squeezing sensation on my lungs increased my dizziness and I collapsed on the brick flooring of the platform. There were only a few families on the platform but they all looked at me with alarm as I used my trunk to drag myself back to a standing position.

'Ignore the families, ignore the hunger, find Amelie,' I chanted in my mind. After propelling my trunk onto the train with my wand, I picked up my satchel and wandered around the platform for several moments before giving up and leaning against a pillar.

After a few minutes, there was a 'pop!' followed by a series of thuds and a slew of cursing. I smiled and strolled off to the commodity that was my best friend. She had three different trunks surrounding her, one extra-large, one large, and one small. Two of the three trunks were overturned and Amelie was on her back on the ground behind them.

I burst into laughter and extended a hand to help her up. "You're so good at apparition Mel, I really don't know how you do it!"

She scowled and flicked me in the temple. "Why don't you go wank yourself, eh Cads?"

"How charming of you, Mellie! But really, teach me your ways, Master Adams." I mocked bowing down to her.

"I could have been seriously injured! I could have broken my neck! I could be internally bleeding! And instead you're taking the piss. Some friend you are," Amelie ranted, pretending to act wounded.

I then pouted and pulled her into my chest in a hug. "Is my ickle baby Mellie hurt?" I asked in a baby voice, before ducking away from what would be another flick.

"Fuck off," she growled as she began to levitate one of her trunks.

I followed suit with the other two trunks. "Someone really woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't get to say goodbye to my father before I left…Marguerite is basically controlling him like he's a robot now. I swear she purposely got him out of the house before I woke up this morning. I have this theory that she may not be as stupid as we think," Amelie spoke conspiratorially.

Frowning, I looked at her thoughtfully. "What do you mean?"

As we finagled her trunks onto the train she whirled around to face me, her peach sundress flaring up. "I mean that stupid cow is trying to steal my father's money! And she's trying to distance him from me."

"Ames, I'm sure that's not the case. I'm sure that it was just a coincidence." When it looked like she was about to argue, I cut her off. "It's okay, let's talk about this on the train. Oh, and by the way, nice knickers," I said as I winked, bumping her hip with mine.

She growled and hit me upside the head. "I had already packed all my good underwear! Unicorn granny panties were all that was left. And we _will _be discussing this for most of the ride."

"Joy of all joys," I mumbled sarcastically as I led the way to our favorite compartment. It was the first one on the train aside from the one for the prefects. We got to see everyone that walked by, so we could find people we wanted to say hello too, and we could also be the first ones off of the train so we wouldn't be stuck in the crowd all trying to get off at the same time.

Ten minutes later we were in our compartment and deep in discussion about Amelie's home life. She had skimped over almost all of this in her letters. "She's been keeping him to herself the whole summer! Always planning business trips for him and making meetings, anything to keep him out of the house…and away from me. And she acts so nice to me in front of him, but behind closed doors she looks so sinister. I swear she's a serpent in disguise," Amelie claimed, dark eyes flashing.

I handed her a bit of chocolate from her purse, ignoring my urge to cram the bar down my throat. The smell of it alone was enough to awaken the monster pangs in my stomach. "Ames, eat the chocolate. Everything will be okay, I promise. Your father loves you! He'd do anything for you! And he will understand about Marguerite any time. The whole marriage process was rushed, but I'm sure soon enough he'll learn."

With a sigh, Amelie slumped back on the metal compartment bench and ate the chocolate. "I suppose you're right…and maybe I'm jumping to conclusions anyway. She's way too daft to be able to even come up with an idea like that. But enough about me. You've got to tell me more about Fatty-a-go-go land. Was it amazing?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "You know, not everyone in America is overweight Mel. And it was good. I really learned a lot at the academy. It's always good to study the Russian technique because usually at school I just work on the French technique…"

"Really? There's no juicy details? No scandals? No cute boys to discuss?" Amelie leaned forward, her chestnut waves falling forward into her eager face. Just Collin, the cruelest and most devilishly handsome boy I had ever met.

Smiling ruefully, I shook my head choosing to lie rather than have to admit my humiliation. "Ames, I barely had time to do anything other than ballet. It was an eight hour a day, six day a week thing. Sundays were for icing my muscles and relaxing. And anyways, the boys were much more admiring of each other, and not us girls. Not to mention the girls there are all so catty. The only scandal was when Catherine stuck paste onto Marietta's toe shoes and Mari wiped out and was injured for two weeks."

"Merlin, those American girls sound ruthless. Also, that's a bit of a pathetic summer Cads, no boys at all? A catch like you, I find it hard to imagine there weren't any completely delicious boys involved in your time in America." Amelie stated, prying all the more into my life. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't?

Well, a good one, because now I'm thinking about Collin. That stupid sod.

There was a knock on the compartment door. "Speaking of completely delicious boys…" came the pompous voice of Anders Groff, fellow seventh year Gryffindor and chaser on the house quidditch team.

"You're an idiot, man," Miles Duckworth mumbled, punching his friend in the arm. Charlie Weasley's face appeared from behind his teammates.

"Hello Amelie, Cadence," he mumbled. "Miles was just looking for you. Well, Amelie, actually," Charlie smirked.

Miles turned bright red. "I-I just wanted to ask you if you were going to be taking N.E.W.T level Arithmancy this year, that's all."

Amelie nodded. "Unfortunately I am."

The three boys then invited themselves into the compartment. Anders sat down next to me, a little too close for my comfort, while Miles shyly took a seat next to Amelie. Charlie remained standing by the door.

"Hey, Charlie," I spoke, and his dark brown eyes flitted up to meet mine. "I was hoping you could tell me the rest of your puffskein story."

Looking surprised, he nodded. "So, like I was saying yesterday, I was opening up the store, and this woman walks in. First of all, she looked completely barmy, as she was wearing wellies and some sort of evening gown with a cowboy hat. She walks over to me and asks how much our chickens cost. I tell her, we don't sell chickens, and the creatures she's pointing at are actually puff-" Charlie is cut off by another knock on the compartment door.

Abigail Whittaker strolled in, followed by her two sixth year (lapdogs) friends, Delia Cartwright and Louise Jacobs. "There you are Anders; we've been looking for you positively everywhere! Oh, and I see Charlie and Miles are here as well! Whatever are you boys doing with my roomies?"

I choked back laughter as Amelie mimed making a noose and wrapping it around her neck. Miles was smiling at her and ruffling his dark hair. Hmm…I would be having words with her about this later.

"Charlie here was just telling us all this story about his precious puffskeins," Anders explained, crossing his left ankle over his right knee and sliding an arm around me. After two sharp looks from both Charlie and Abigail, he removed his arm and quickly stood up. "But I, however, was just on my way to find you, Abby love," he claimed (smarmily) smoothly.

This was all very weird. Normally Amelie and I rode the train with very few interruptions, with only the occasional hello from a friendly Hufflepuff, but instead here we were with the most popular people in all of Gryffindor house. It also appeared that there was trouble in paradise with Hogwarts' golden couple, Anders and Abigail.

Abigail smiled and blinded us all with the glare from her teeth. "Of course you were _dear._ But no need to find me, I'm already here! And we would love to hear Charlie's story, wouldn't we girls?" She turned to her (robots) friends and they both nodded and smiled on cue. Louise snapped her gum noisily. Abigail then shoved Anders back into his seat next to me and settled herself on his lap. Louise and Delilah crowded next to Miles, shoving Amelie into the corner, and leaving Charlie to squeeze himself next to me.

My cheeks lit up as his bare arm brushed against mine and Amelie smirked. I then made a point of looking at Miles and her smirk turned into a blush that wasn't quite as spectacular as mine.

"Well, anyways, this crazy woman just would not leave me alone. She refused to leave the store without a chicken! So finally, I just ended up selling her a yellow puffskein that ate chicken feed, and then she begins to ask me how often it laid eggs. I only managed to get rid of her once my manager came in and all but shoved her out the door. Even then, she just wandered about outside the entrance for another three hours." When Charlie was done sharing his story, Delia and Louise burst into laughter, guffawing and slapping Charlie's knees, praising him on being such a good story teller. Vomit.

Abigail was distracting Anders with her (talons) fingernails as she toyed with the buttons on his shirt and Miles and Amelie were having a quiet discussion of their own.

Charlie looked pleased as he glanced over and saw my face, which had a small smile on it. "That sounds like a very strange experience," I offered.

We all conversed for a while, sharing stories about our summers, and even Louise contributed at one point with a rousing tale of how she lost her favorite nail file while at a spa, before the woman with the food trolley came around. Amelie eagerly bought about five pounds of chocolate frogs and began munching on them immediately. Miles appraised her before buying a jar of sugar quills.

"Do you want anything Cadence?" Charlie asked, gesturing with a tanned forearm towards the food.

I shoved my arms into my stomach to prevent the growl trying to escape. "Oh, that's kind of you, but I'm all right, thanks."

He shrugged. "If you're sure…" he said as he bought some pumpkin pasties and tossed one to Anders. I wanted to devour every bit of food in the compartment but instead settled biting on my pinkie nail.

All of a sudden, Abigail changed position on Anders' lap, causing me to have to be entirely up against Charlie.

"Er, sorry" I whispered, mortified. I tried to put some space between us but there was nowhere to go, and I wasn't particularly eager to interrupt the suction cup that was Ander-gail's lips. "I can't really go anywhere.

He shook his head. "It's fine."

My face lit up as he shifted and our arms rubbed together. I just hoped he couldn't feel the flabbiness of my arms against his solid muscle.

Amelie and Miles turned their attention back towards us and the four of us awkwardly returned to conversing, this time about the upcoming school year.

Abigail unsuctioned her lips from Anders and brought up the party scene, going on and on about how Davis from Ravenclaw was planning on throwing "an absolute fun-bomb" in the abandoned Charms classroom on the fourth floor for Halloween.

"Yes, you guys enjoy your "fun-bomb," Amelie spoke distastefully. "Cads and I will be at the Hag House tonight, tearing up the dance floor."

Miles coughed. "You guys are going out tonight?"

Amelie nodded. "We've been going out every year on the first night back, at least since fifth year. Only difference is that this year we can actually get served at the bar."

"That sounds brilliant," Charlie spoke. "Mind if we come along?"

Not if you're shirtless. "The more the merrier!" I exclaimed, laughing nervously. When Amelie shook her head at me, questioning my sanity, I turned my attention to my hair as I began to braid it.

"You down, mates?" At Charlie's question, Miles and Anders eagerly nodded. This in turn caused Abigail to whine about having hardly seen Anders this summer, which wound up giving her, Delia, and Louise, invitations as well.

Amelie glared at me as if to say, _'Way to go Cadsy.'_

I in turn sent her a look back that said, _'As if you aren't thrilled that Miles is coming.' _

_'Well now the Gryffinhoes are joining us.'_

_'Sorry! I was just trying to be polite, you bloody Hippogriff. Besides, you're the one that brought it up!'_

_'I hate you.' _

_'I hate you back Melly Belly.'_

I received a kick to the shin. Everyone was looking blankly at the two of us, clearly having witnessed our internal conversation.

"So…meet outside the Portrait Hole at 11pm?" Miles inquired after a moment. We all agreed, and then went back to talking about what was to come in the new term.

We arrived at Hogwarts two hours later, which was perfect timing as I was about to throttle myself. I had endured 45 minutes of sucking sounds coming from the lips of Anders and Abigail and at one point had nearly crawled into Charlie's lap in my eagerness to get away. He had raised a brow, perhaps questioning my sanity. Long story short, after being ear-raped and mortified, I was thrilled to have arrived at Hogwarts.

"Come on Ames, we've got to get the first carriage!" I bounced up and down like a child as I waited for her to finish her conversation about the school choir with Miles. Ah, the choir. Amelie and I were two out of twelve members. The Hogwarts student population was not made of talented singers. Most of them were unable to carry a tune inside of a giant's pair of knickers.

Amelie stood up and smoothed down her robes. "All right Cads, don't have a hippogriff. We'll see you lot later!"

After we had all murmured our goodbyes, I yanked Amelie off of the train and into the crisp Scottish air. It was good to be home.


	3. Holy Adorable

**Holy Adorable**

In no time, we were sitting in the Great Hall, awaiting the Sorting and Feast. Amelie and I were seated next to a group of fourth year boys who seemed dead set on levitating a spoon down Amelie's dress, and I could tell from the look on her face that Amelie had a nice hex in mind. Luckily, McGonagall entered the hall with a group of (house elves) first years.

"I swear they get shorter every year." Amelie stared down the newcomers. We often shared the same thoughts. All of a sudden, everyone began whispering. An extremely overweight girl was at the very end of the line of first years, and as she walked down the middle of the room, she looked down, probably aware that everyone was staring.

Luckily for her, the first new student to go up and get sorted tripped on the steps and ended up splayed across the ground, causing the hall to burst into laughter and turn their attention elsewhere. Anders was yelling out a repeated score of "ten! Bloody ten!"

Once the sorting was finished, Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the Head Table. "To the new faces, welcome! To the familiar faces, welcome back! A new term is upon us, but I won't bore everyone with the details on empty stomachs. For now I shall merely leave you with the words limerance, mungo, pronk, and brouhaha!" He sat down to much applause and mountains of freshly made food appeared before us.

Amelie began digging in immediately, before noticing me with my hands in my lap. "Eat up Cadsy, you can't go clubbing on an empty stomach, especially being as thin as you are!"

I fought with myself for a moment, but at her words I carefully speared two slices of turkey and spooned green beans onto my plate. Fifteen minutes later my stomach was still ready to eat itself, and I gave into the hunger by adding mashed potatoes, Shepherd's pie, and grilled chicken to my plate. I could hate myself for this tomorrow, when I was hung over. Besides, Collin wasn't here, and who could see my enormous stomach in robes?

After everyone had eaten their fill, the headmaster stood up once more. The chatter died down as he began reminding everyone that the Forbidden Forest was still indeed off-limits, and gave everyone Filch's new list of banned items. After he made the announcement that magic was not allowed in the corridors, he began to mention the reason for us all needing dress robes.

"I'm sure that some of you are curious for the need for dress robes this year. This year's Head Boy and Head Girl, Humphrey Hummers and Rachel Stevenson, came up with a proposal for a winter formal!" Dumbledore waited as excited chatter broke out around the hall. "This dance will take place on Saturday, the 20th of December. That way, everyone that wants to can still go home for the rest of the holidays! More details will be posted on your House bulletins in the Common Rooms. Any additional questions can be directed towards your House Heads. That is all for now, good night!"

When Dumbledore dismissed everyone, the chatter magnified. Everyone was talking about the ball. I was now very glad that Amelie had bought me the fancy dress and robe. Maybe the robes would take away from the fact that I looked like an elephant.

Amelie and I ducked through a tapestry on the third floor that took us to the Gryffindor common room entrance ahead of the crowd.

"Lollipop guild," I spoke, and the Fat Lady swung open to reveal our empty common room.

"I love you being a prefect," Amelie sighed. "We don't have to wait around for everyone else."

Climbing the stairs to the very top, we welcomed the sight of our beds. After a thirty minute power nap, we began to get ready for our night out. Abigail, our only other dorm mate, briefly came by to grab a change of clothes and her lip gloss before heading to the sixth year dorm.

Amelie had the WizRadio blasting the latest hit by the Hobgoblins. She was straightening her hair whilst I was doing my makeup. I applied some mascara and gave myself a smoky eye look, all while in my cat bathrobe. It came with a hood that had ears on it. Thanks Grandmum. I opted to leave my hair in its waves so I didn't have to fuss with products.

"Hey, can I borrow your black peep-toe ankle boots?" Amelie asked as she examined her outfit of a white corset top and a tight, black mini skirt that came up her waist just above the navel.

I nodded. "And wear this necklace!" I added as I tossed her a long, silver chain.

I myself had no idea what to wear. I was extremely self-conscious of my stomach after I had eaten so much, and now that Charlie and Abigail were both going to be there, I was all the more wary. I didn't need anyone here at Hogwarts mocking me like in America.

Amelie, noticing my distress, rifled through one of her trunks and came up with a black minidress. It was skin tight and had sleeves and a back entirely made out of lace. I slipped it on and sucked in my stomach as I looked at myself in the mirror. Fat, fat, fat.

"I look like a whale!" I moaned and reached for the zipper so that I could remove the dress.

My hand was swatted away. "Oh no you don't Cadence, you look hot as Hades in that dress, and Charlie will be all over you, trust me. Don't you trust me?" Amelie asked, her hands on her hips.

I fidgeted for a few moments before examining myself once more in the mirror. I suppose that if I wore heels, the attention might be taken off of my stomach and put onto my legs. I conceded and slipped into a pair of black heeled boots that stopped midway up my shins. The dress barely covered my arse as I was three inches taller than Amelie, so I cast a spell that would disable the dress from shifting.

After we adjusted our wands in our garters and Amelie slid a vial of her special Hangover potion in between her breasts, we crept down the stairs into the common room. Luckily, everyone else was in their dormitories by now, as curfew had been an hour ago. As we exited the portrait hole, a wand was lit and the faces of Charlie, Miles, Anders, and Abigail were exposed.

"Where's Delia and Louise?" I inquired.

Abigail waved her hand about. "They wanted their 'beauty sleep' or whatever."

"Good luck with that, there's only 9 hours till classes," Amelie mumbled, and I laughed before slapping a hand over my mouth.

We all gathered into a clump.

"Okay," Amelie whispered. "Everyone pair off. We're going to disillusion ourselves and head down to the statue of the witch with the hump. From there, we're going to take the passageway to the basement of Honeydukes, and apparate to the club."

Miles offered his arm to Amelie and I waved off her proposal to go with me instead. She thanked me with a smile before she slowly disappeared, or so it seemed thanks to Charlie's excellent spell.

Abigail was already clinging to Anders, which left me with Charlie. I gave him a nervous smile, unsure of what he thought of this situation, but he just tapped me with his wand, casting the charm. It felt as though an egg had just been cracked over my head and I watched bits of me turn nearly invisible. Charlie began to disappear as well and I fumbled around for a moment before catching hold of his arm.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I nodded before I remembered that he couldn't see me. "Yes."

We started an awkward walk, what with me clutching what looked like thin air and trying not to get separated, and also feeling like he didn't exactly want to be paired with me.

I could hear the faint footsteps of Miles and Amelie up ahead, and could only hope that Anders and Abigail got hopelessly lost and wound up in the dungeons. We slipped through a tapestry and headed down a thin, rickety staircase. At one point I lost my footing and Charlie grabbed me by the waist after a brief fumble with the air.

Grateful that he couldn't see me blush, I whispered, "Thanks Captain Weasley."

He chuckled slightly. "Thanks for keeping my seeking skills sharp," he said, and I could only hope he was smiling and not completely creeped out by my presence.

Eventually we made it to the statue. The others must have already gone down because the tunnel was exposed, and I rolled my eyes at their carelessness.

Charlie undid the charm and suddenly he appeared in front of me. "I'll go first, in case I need to catch you again," he said mockingly.

My heart beat a little bit faster as he saluted me and slid down the tunnel. When I heard the thud of his feet hitting the ground, I took a deep break and followed, moving the statue back in place. I had only gone down this tunnel on a few other occasions, and it was a rush every time. It was fairly steep, but curved upwards at the end to slow your momentum.

As I reached the end, I gracefully got to my feet and began to walk past Charlie, who was reclining against the wall. "Come on Weasley, try and keep up," I teased.

"Oi!" He shouted before proceeding to chase me down the corridor. He caught up to me just as I burst into the Honeydukes basement and saw Amelie and Miles as well as Anders and Abigail. Too bad I didn't give them the wrong directions.

"Who left the tunnel open?" I asked. Anders and Abigail exchanged smirks.

"Sorry," Abigail tittered. "We were a little preoccupied," she said as Anders pulled a flask out from his jacket.

Amelie gave them a look of disgust. "Really? Pregaming for a club? And your idiocy could have gotten us all caught!"

When it looked like Abigail was going to retort, Miles interjected. "Have only Cadence and Amelie been to this club before?"

Everyone nodded, and we decided to split into two groups of three. Amelie went with Miles and Anders and quickly disapparated with a 'crack!'

I placed one hand on Charlie's arm and lightly placed my other hand on Abigail's bony shoulder, scared to contract a disease. I concentrated on the Hag House and all of its neon-lighted glory, and we appeared outside the large club, where the bass from the music could be heard through the walls. Amelie, Miles, and Anders were standing by the curb waiting for us. Miles was staring at Amelie with a slightly open mouth, but as the three of us appeared, he snapped to attention. Holy adorable.

Now that we were in the light, we could actually see each other. Charlie was now openly eyeing me and I sucked in as much as I could.

"Wow, uh, Weaver you look nice," he said.

There go my cheeks again. And my heart. That's a new one. "Thanks Charlie. I really like your, erm, shirt." HIS SHIRT?! Of all of the responses, I chose one about his ruddy shirt. Amelie was shaking her head at me in shame. Luckily for me, Charlie just chuckled.

I blame his handsomeness in distracting me. He was wearing a very tight black shirt, which nicely showed off his fit body, underneath a black button-down shirt that was open, with jeans and Muggle trainers with checkmarks on the side. He also had some 5 o'clock shadow that made him look slightly rugged and (delicious) manly.

"Shall we go in?" Amelie inquired brightly. Miles had to punch Anders in the arm, as him and Abigail were snogging. Abigail had on a see-through mesh top with a sequin bra underneath and a pair of shorts that were better classified as knickers, paired with thigh-high black boots. Essence of class right there.

Amelie and I walked over to the bouncer. "Hey Vlad," she said teasingly. "Looking good tonight."

The large, burly bouncer went from stoic to smiling. "Evening ladies."

"We brought some friends with us tonight," I said. "I hope that's all right."

Abigail looked a bit pissy as Vlad moved the rope for us, causing Amelie to grin broadly. Everyone in line began muttering angrily, which made her even happier. She flipped her hair, grabbed Miles by the hand, and then they were lost in the crowd.

"Are you coming or not, Weasley?" I asked, beginning to walk through the door.

He jogged to catch up with me. "Not yet I'm not," he said with a wink.

"Eurgh, pig," I muttered, despite the fact that his wink made my heart pound. Since when did Charlie Weasley flirt with me?

Seeing Amelie and Miles at the bar, I gestured towards it, and he nodded as he began to shove his way through the mob of dancing people.

Eventually we reached the bar, although it was no easy feat as the dance floor was packed with drunk teenagers.

"What are you drinking?" I shouted to Amelie once we reached them, trying to ignore the fact that Charlie was standing behind me so closely that I could feel the heat from his skin.

"A thestral," she said roguishly, taking a gulp of the pure black drink. She swaying tremulously and leaned on Miles for support.

I eyed it warily and shoved two galleons on the bar. "Yeah, I'll just have an Amortentia."

Hag House was renowned for its original drink Amortentia. They had created some sort of spell so that whoever was drinking it would taste their favorite thing, which, for me, was cherries.

"Er… Want a sip?" I offered my drink to Charlie awkwardly asked as he waited for his firewhiskey.

I began to giggle as he accepted the glass; he looked silly as he drank out of the pink straw. "Mm, tastes like steak."

"Liquid steak? Sounds bloody disgusting." I took the drink back and happily sucked down the contents, ordering a second one. He shrugged and grabbed his firewhiskey.

The four of us stood there for about twenty minutes sipping our drinks. Miles stared at Amelie while trying not to look like he was staring and the rest of us watched the drunken couples on the dance floor. There was a lot of groping and a lot of tongue. Eventually Miles took Amelie to dance, leaving Charlie and I alone, which was fine for about ten seconds but then suddenly…

Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the stress for another moment. I just wanted everything to go away, and the pain and embarrassment of the summer to end. I needed to stop hating myself, and I wanted to stop caring what everyone thought of me. I finished my drink, ordered myself two shots of firewhiskey, and downed them one after the other. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and headed onto the dance floor without a word.

I wanted to make ballet my career, but I sometimes it was nice just to let loose, and let everything go – not worrying about the consequences. I threw my hands above my head and screamed as the beat dropped to the song that was playing. I did what in jazz we call a "snake," whipping my head to the right, the rest of my body following. Then, as I rolled my body slowly to the rhythm, I made eye contact with Charlie. He was leaning against the bar, staring at me over the neck of his bottle, watching me like he would watch a quidditch game, just…observing.

Running a hand through my long hair, I dropped down to the floor before slowly coming back up, provocatively moving my hips. To be honest, there were no thoughts running across my mind other than, 'Charlie Weasley is staring at me like I'm the only person in the room.' I had never been looked at like that before.

The alcohol had now taken over my body, and I could tell it was the same for Amelie and Miles, who were now snogging like there was no tomorrow. Miles was behind her, still moving to the music, one hand around her waist, and the other cupping her face as she turned slightly to meet his lips. I was not letting that one go later, if I could remember.

I shrugged and danced faster as the song changed. I whipped my wand out of the garter on my left leg to cast a cooling charm on myself. Being drunk, it was a little more complicated putting the wand back in than taking it out. As I struggled to correctly position it in my garter, a body appeared out of the crowd, and a hand slowly took my wand and slid it back into the garter, fingers lightly brushing against my inner thigh.

"You looked like you could use some help," Charlie stated, suddenly much too close and nice-smelling for me to concentrate.

I bit down on my lip. He was slowly moving closer. His nose touched mine, and his breath was on my cheeks. Then his hands were on my hips. Low on my hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he began moving us to the music. I had no idea what was happening, but I really didn't care.

"Who knew the quidditch captain could dance so well?" I asked, looking up at him from under my lashes.

In one swift motion he flipped me around so that my back was resting against his stomach. "Me."

"How much have you had to drink?" I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.

Charlie brought his face next to mind so he could speak into my ear. "Two bottles."

"Are you drunk?"

"I don't think so," he responded.

For some reason this made me break out into a smile. I reached back with my left hand and wrapped it around his neck, pulling his face towards mine. We stared at each other for a moment, brown eyes meeting gray. Then, his gaze dipped down to my lips. I subconsciously wetted my lips with the tip of my tongue and Charlie's hand gripped my hip tighter. As he leaned down and I felt his hot breath spreading across my cheeks, we were suddenly shoved apart.

"Abigail! What are you doing?" I yelled. I was a little unsteady in my heels.

The blonde had tears and mascara running down her cheeks. "It's Anders. We-we got into a fight and then he had three thestrals, and now he's passed out and sometimes he just stops breathing! He needs help!"

Excuse me, I think my heart just stopped beating. "WHAT?" Immediately Charlie grabbed me and began to yank me through the crowd after Abigail. With the loud, pulsing music, the alcohol and adrenaline running through my bloodstream, three inch high heels, and jumping bodies surrounding me, it was hard to keep up or even walk straight. I couldn't focus. And then the strobe lights came on.

"Charlie!" I cried out as a lanky male knocked into me. I stumbled backwards and became encircled by a group of wizards.

One sidled over to me and grabbed my waist. "Hey girl, wanna dance? I can expect your patronum."

My skin crawled and I wrenched out of his grasp. "No thanks, I need to find my-my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend eh?" said another one as I tried to shove my way out of the circle. "I think you're lying and you just don't want to dance with us."

A particular bulky looking lad with a green mohawk and an earring grabbed my arse. "Why not? We're good…_dancers_," he smirked.

"Please just let me go!" I was beginning to get scared. The alcohol and adrenaline were heightening my emotions, and I was near hysteria.

Mohawk stroked a finger across my cheek. "But we don't want to! You're so ravishing," he said with a sinister grin, snapping his teeth together.

Oh my Merlin, I needed to get out of there. I tried once again to push my way through the wall of wizards but I couldn't get through. "LET ME GO!"

All of a sudden, two of them were roughly wrenched apart, and I got knocked to the ground as Mohawk lurched forward in what I think was attempted Muggle fighting. Another wizard snatched me from the floor and tried to drag me away but he was stopped by Miles.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled, his arms wrapped around the guy's neck. I looked behind him and saw Amelie and Abigail supporting a lifeless Anders. As I stepped towards them I was yanked back, and all of a sudden there were slimy lips molesting my own and the scent of whiskey was so strong that it made me want to vomit.

As soon as the assault came, it was gone, and then there was a 'crunch,' as Mohawk's nose was bashed in and he hit the floor. Charlie was standing over him breathing heavily, his face white. "Stay. Away. From her."

Miles roughly threw the guy he had in a headlock to the ground.

"Are you all right?" Charlie asked roughly, putting an arm around my shoulder.

When I nodded, he began walking, still with one arm around me. Miles hoisted Anders across his back and followed, with Amelie holding Abigail, who looked worse for wear. The second we got outside of the club, I was apparated away, and the neon lights and loud music were replaced by a lung-squeezing blackness that slowly suffocated me until, at the last moment before my breath ran out, we reappeared in Hogsmeade in the middle of High Street.

We all took a few moments to gather our bearings, and Miles set Anders down, leaning him against the wall.

"Is he breathing?" I asked, my breath shown in a cloud in the cold night air. Amelie ran a finger under his nose and nodded.

Abigail slumped in relief. "So is he just…wasted?"

Charlie nodded slowly. "It looks that way, but we can't be too sure. We need to get him to the Hospital Wing."

"And tell Pomphrey what exactly?" Miles asked, rubbing a hand wearily across his face.

"He's right," Amelie spoke up. "We can't take him there. Too many questions."

We all stared at each other for a moment before I asked the question nobody wanted to say aloud. "What the ruddy hell are we going to do?"


	4. A Nervy B

A Nervy B

"How do you two normally get back?" Charlie asked, beginning to pace.

Amelie bit her lip. "We usually take the Hogsmeade passage, but it would be way too hard for you two to get Anders up all of those stairs."

"Couldn't you two go get help and bring it back here?" Abigail inquired, sniffing noisily.

"Who exactly would we bring back here Abigail? Dumbledore? Not to mention it increases the risk of getting caught for all of us," Amelie scoffed.

I couldn't think. There was a very important piece of the puzzle that we were missing…something obvious. "Amelie, the potion!" I suddenly cried.

She gasped and fumbled around in the bra for a moment before triumphantly pulling out the vial. Cue Miles gaping.

I took the potion and tilted Anders' head back, trickling in a few drops. We all held our breaths until, a long few moments later, his eyes blearily opened.

"Wuzzgoinon?"

Abigail began sobbing again and threw herself into her boyfriend's arms. "Oh Merlin Anders, you scared me so much! Don't ever do that again!"

I hurriedly shushed her. "Guys, quiet! Anders, we're in Hogsmeade. We have to get back to the Common Room. Can you walk?"

He nodded and took a few precarious steps before falling over. Fantastic. He was still completely out of it.

"We can take the passage that comes out on the fourth floor, behind the mirror!" Amelie whispered. "There's no stairs, it's just a tunnel. And then we can take the short cut behind the suit of armor to get to the seventh floor."

Miles and Abigail grabbed Anders and helped him walk over to the back of Scrivenshaft's, where an old shed had a door that opened into a narrow, dirt tunnel. I hated using this passageway because it was dark, cold, damp, and extremely narrow, but it was our only option at the moment.

It was slow going, as Anders had to stop every five feet or so, and there were six of us trying to navigate the tiny shaft. Finally, the tunnel began to go slightly upwards, and the dirt gave way to brick as we entered a small room, no bigger than a broom closet, which was used mostly for storage. I lit my wand and led the way over to the back of a large, ornate mirror, shoving it to the side.

After listening for a few moments, I jumped down a few feet to the ground, helping Amelie and Abigail down as well, although I was tempted to shove Abigail face first onto the tile. We had an extremely close call as Charlie and Miles nearly dropped Anders, but fortunately they managed to catch him at the last moment. Anders had no idea what was going on and barely reacted. Typical.

"Okay, now we just need to head down the hallway and get to the -" Amelie cut herself off as a soft pitter-patter was heard from down the hall.

"MRS. NORRIS!" Miles hissed. Charlie fumbled with his wand and the two of them began to disillusion everyone, but Charlie's left leg was still in sight when the cat rounded the corner.

After several tense moments of watching his leg disappear, the cat turned and promptly sprinted away.

"Oh my Merlin, oh my Merlin," Abigail began moaning.

I ground my teeth. "Shut it Abigail! We've got to get to that suit of armor, now!" No longer caring about noise, we all began to run to the end of the hall, Anders occasionally tripping over himself. I shoved the tapestry behind the armor out of the way and waited for a few moments until I was sure everyone was inside.

"Everyone here?" Charlie asked, and everyone said their name as we undid the spell. Suddenly we realized…Abigail wasn't there. This wasn't happening.

"OH MY GOD, I CANNOT BELIEVE HER!" Amelie burst out. "I'M ABOUT TO HAVE A NERVY B!" I clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to stop myself from also having a nervous breakdown.

Miles poked his head back out into the hallway and whispered her name three times, with no response.

After a few anxious moments, I came up with a plan. "Okay, you guys need to get Anders to the common room. There's no use trying to drag him around while looking for Abigail. I'll go back out and look for her."

"I won't let you go by yourself," Charlie protested.

"I'm not going to be by myself; you're coming with me. You're the best at the disillusionment charm. Now Amelie and Miles, take Anders and go!"

I paced angrily for a few moments before Charlie placed his hands on my forearms, keeping me in place. "Cadence, it will be okay."

"We've got a practically invisible, drunk, sobby, slag-muffin on the loose at 3:17 in the morning! How is it going to be okay? You know if she gets caught she's taking us all down with her," I whispered angrily. My head was starting to pound.

"Cadence, everything will be fine. I guarantee you that Abigail is just heading up to Gryffindor tower, so all we have to do is head up there ourselves. All right?" Charlie held me at arm's length so that he could look me in the eye.

This night had been so completely strange. Charlie, who had never been anything more than an acquaintance to me, openly flirted with me, danced with me, nearly kissed me, and then punched a guy who assaulted me. Not to mention Amelie and Miles had snogged. I was ready to sleep and forget about how weird this day had been.

With a heavy sigh, I nodded. "Okay, disillusion me and let's get this over with."

Once we were hidden, we stepped out into the corridor. I kept a hold on his elbow as we walked so we wouldn't get separated. As we walked through the hallways and up all of the stairwells, we softly called Abigail's name, to no avail. When we made it up to Gryffindor Tower, we learned from Miles, who was waiting in the common room, that Abigail had made it back before any of them had and had promptly fallen asleep in her bed. I wanted to throttle someone, but I was much too exhausted.

I accepted the vial with Amelie's hangover potion in it from Miles. "Thanks for a truly…unforgettable night, guys," I murmured and headed for the staircase that led to the girl's dormitories, unsure that I could function for much longer.

"We'll see you in about…4 hours," Charlie said, smirking. Miles yawned.

I made a face and trudged my way up to my room. Yay, bed. I fell face first onto the mattress and welcomed the dreams about Charlie wrestling a dragon shirtless.

When I woke up at 8am at the sound of Abigail's alarm, I felt like I hadn't slept in ten years. I practically sleep-walked over to Amelie's nightstand and rifled through it until I found a vial with pale blue, nearly clear, liquid in it. It was one of Amelie's original concoctions, created to give a person a five-hour blast of energy. I took a sip and then tucked the vial into my bag so I could offer it to the others later.

I dressed, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and, after deciding that without a shower my hair was a lost cause, unceremoniously threw it up into a messy bun that vaguely resembled a dead opossum. I loosened my tie and rolled up the sleeves of my white oxford shirt before pulling on my gray cardigan that bore the Gryffindor crest over the left breast. Tossing my robes and satchel over one arm, I sidled down into the common room, as ready as I would ever be for my last first day at Hogwarts.

"Cadence…potion…please," Amelie moaned from her spot on the couch. She was lying on her back with her head in Miles' lap. What was up with those two?

Shaking my head, I handed her the blue concoction and settled down into an arm chair across from them. "Good morning everyone." I purposely avoided looking at Charlie, instead opting to look at the carpet beside him.

Miles yawned and waved, Charlie nodded at me from the floor by the couch, and Amelie moaned again. Charlie's dark eyes were still focused on me, and I could tell he was thinking about last night. Should I pretend it never happened? Oh Merlin, save me.

"Hey mates, crazy night?" Griffon Baker sauntered over to our group and settled himself on the arm of my chair. Ah, Griffon, my fellow prefect. How I had missed his mildly creepy guiles. He was a bit strange, and he looked the part. He was tall, lanky, pale, and had thick, uncontrollable brown hair that sometimes looked like it was taking over his head. However, despite the dorkiness, he was strangely close with the quidditch blokes in his dorm, aka Anders, Miles, and Charlie, and this led some sadly mistaken girls to believe that he was a "sexy nerd," which I can assure everyone is not the case.

Amelie just groaned, causing him to laugh in his weird, dorky way. It was a hybrid between a hyena and what I imagine a zebra would sound like. "You guys have fun staying awake in classes today."

After he had walked away, Miles snatched the vial and chugged half of its contents.

"Hey, you bint, it takes me two weeks to make that particular potion!" Amelie said as she swatted at him.

He shrugged and handed the rest to Charlie. "So, I'll help you make more."

Amelie blushed and went quiet. Wow. Miles Duckworth had just made Amelie Adams speechless. That was most certainly new. Charlie and I caught each other's eyes and smirked.

"We'd better be getting to breakfast so that we can get our schedules," I offered. We all got to our feet and began the long walk down to the Great Hall. When we arrived, the smell of freshly baked breakfast rolls, bacon and syrup was overwhelming. My stomach rumbled, but I ignored it, instead opting for a cup of coffee.

Charlie shook his head as he noted my choice. "You are going to crash later."

"I need the energy. Once classes are over I need to start my training. I haven't danced in three days." I avoided looking into his eyes as I spoke and tried to keep the blush from overtaking my cheeks. I couldn't look at Charlie without thinking about last night, our dirty dancing, and our almost-kiss.

"Miss Adams, your schedule," McGonagall spoke in her typical stiff manner.

Amelie broke out into a smile. "I start every other day with double potions!" It was my belief that she was secretly a Slytherin. I think even McGonagall was trying to contain her look of disbelief.

Miles groaned as he got his schedule. "Me too." At her glare, he hastened to put a grin on his face. "But now I'm happy because it's more time that I get to spend with you." I made a 'whip' sound.

"Nicely done mate," Charlie said mockingly as he received his own schedule before groaning, indicating that he had potions as well. I eagerly took mine from McGonagall, and we all began comparing.

I had almost every single class with Charlie except for Ancient Runes (I was unsure of how I felt about this), which I had with Amelie and Miles. Charlie took Care of Magical Creatures during that period. Amelie, Miles and I had all six of our classes together, as we all had a bit of that Griffon-nerdiness inside of us that made us act like overachievers.

Let's see: today I had double Potions, Ancient Runes, lunch, and then double Charms. Every other day I had double Transfiguration, Herbology, lunch, a break, and then DADA with...Professor Podmore? Not surprising after what happened with Greene I supposed.

"Well, shall we go to Hell? I mean potions?" I asked innocently. Everyone laughed as we got up from the table, swinging our bags over our shoulders.

Miles reached out a hand. "Here, let me take that for you," he said to Amelie.

Amelie beamed and gave him her satchel before the pair walked off, their heads bowed together as they talked.

"Well that's weird," Charlie stated bluntly.

I laughed loudly, causing a group of second years to stare. "Carry on," I told them, and they all scattered away. Oh the power of being a seventh year. "I'm going to talk to Amelie later; you should talk to Miles. Something must have been going on over the summer, I've never seen her like this before. She's so smitten!"

"Miles as well! Did you see the two of them snogging last night? I've never seen him act like that. He's normally so reserved," Charlie remarked as he rubbed the scruff on his chin. I murmured in vague agreement as I snuck glances at him.

Normally I didn't like facial hair on guys, but Charlie pulled it off. He just seemed like such a…rugged person, what with being a tall, muscular quidditch star whose biggest aspiration was to work with dragons. Before I knew it, we had reached the dungeons. I surreptitiously checked to see if I had drool on my chin as we entered, and, seeing that Amelie, Miles, and Griffon were the only other Gryffindors in the class, we seated ourselves at their table.

Humphrey Hummers was the only Hufflepuff in the class and was sitting with the four Ravenclaws also taking N.E.W.T level potions. They looked mildly depressed over this fact.

In a shocking twist, all eight of the Slytherins in our year were taking the course as well. This should be (slow death) fun. Snape entered and the already dreary atmosphere got worse. Immediately he began to lecture us about the importance of N.E.W.T level potions and how it was the hardest of all the subjects and other nonsense that I didn't pay any attention to, instead choosing to plan out the rest of my day.

Let's see… After Potions I had Ancient Runes with Amelie, Miles, and Griffon, followed by lunch and Charms with everyone. I was done for the day after that, so I would head down to an empty classroom and dance for about two hours, before going to the library, doing my homework, stretching, and going out for a run. That way, I could eat lunch and dinner today and work everything off. I had spent so much time lost in my thoughts that I realized I had no idea what we were supposed to be doing.

"Er…Charlie? What are we doing?" I whispered as everyone began shuffling about.

He rolled his eyes at me. "And to think you're a prefect."

At my death glare, he held up his hands in defense. "We're partnering up and making the first potion on the list from our summer work. We're not allowed to use the text book; we're supposed to make it based off of what we wrote about it. That way, if we do a poor job, he'll know we weren't sufficient with our assignment."

Typical Snape. "Well, would you mind being partners? Amelie's already with Miles and I would rather chop off my own arm and smack myself with it than be partners with Humphrey," I said distastefully, gesturing over to where said Hufflepuff was arguing with Rachel Stevenson about who had done the most extensive summer work.

"Since you asked so nicely," Charlie began sarcastically, "I would be honored."

Luckily, Charlie and I had both done adequate work, so making the Blood-Replenishing Potion was fairly simple. It turned out that we worked well together as partners, as I enjoyed preparing the ingredients and he preferred doing the stirring and keeping watch over the potion. Usually whenever I had to watch the potion, I either overestimated or underestimated the time it needed to simmer, which often resulted in my receiving a horrid grade. I honestly had no idea how I had made it this far.

At the end of the period, everyone corked a vial of their solution and handed it in. Most of the class bolted out of the door, eager to get into the sunlight.

"Hey, Cads, will you tell the boys to wait for a moment? I just want to talk to Professor Snape," Amelie stated, cautiously approaching his desk.

He glanced up at her with contempt as she stood in front of him. "Yes, what do you want Miss Adams," he droned, no hint of a question in his tone.

"Excuse me professor, but I was simply wondering if you had any spare time within the next month or so? I'm applying to work for the company that's partnered with St. Mungo's that creates all of their medicines and potions, and I've created some of my own concoctions to use as part of my application. I was just wondering if you could take a look at them and tell me how to make them better, and I know that if I include your name in my application that the committee would take me more seriously," she rambled nervously.

Snape stared at her for a few moments, his black orbs bearing into her mind. "I can meet with you next Thursday at 6pm. You'd best not waste my time."

Amelie smiled brightly and I could tell that she was containing herself from jumping up and down. "Thank you so much professor, I appreciate it. Have a good day!"

I quickly exited the classroom as I began to guffaw. Snape's face when Amelie bid him a good day was priceless. It was like he'd never heard the expression before.

Amelie and I joined Charlie, Miles, and Griffon, and us Gryffies began our walk to our next class. Charlie waved goodbye to us as we passed by the Entrance Hall, heading outside to Hagrid's hut, while the rest of us trekked up to Professor Bathsheba's classroom on the fifth floor.

"Get a room," Griffon called out as we passed Ander-gail snogging against a wall on the fourth floor. Miles catcalled, cracking Amelie up. Anders, who was leaning up against the brick, gave us all the bird without once taking his lips away from Abigail's. True talent.

"I guess Anders is feeling better," Amelie remarked, and Miles and I burst into laughter once again.

Griffon frowned. "What happened to Anders last night?"

With a sigh, I launched into the tales of last night, starting with the punch-out and ending with a missing Abigail. When I finished the story, we entered the classroom, which we had been standing outside of, not wanting others to overhear. Amelie and I took our seats in front of Miles and Griffon near the back of the classroom, like the true intellectuals that we were.

When Bathsheba began babbling about the same exact things as Snape, I knew it was time to put my brain to use and play a Muggle game called Hangman with Amelie. I went first.

When Amelie figured out my puzzle, which, by the way, was 'Miles+Amelie=Shag City,' she punched me in the arm.

"OW, MOTHER OF MERLIN'S SAGGY LEFT NU-" I cut myself off as everyone turned to stare at me. Amelie's head was buried behind her text book so no one would see her laughter. "Sorry professor, I just got a paper cut and it was really upsetting because I feel like my Runes book has betrayed me. It's quite depressing because we were so close and I trusted it so much."

Amelie immediately ceased her laughter and looked up from her book to give me a stare that clearly said, 'Cads, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?'

Bathsheba had no idea what was going on, and merely nodded before returning to her lecture. The rest of the class tossed a smirk my way before turning back around. Yeah, whatever losers.

'We are NOT shagging!' Amelie wrote on the parchment.

**'Just snogging, amirite?'**

'I hate you.'

**'So I've been told.'**

'If you must know, being the nosy cow that you are, we owled each other over the summer a few times.'

**'So you sex-owled? Sowled? Hey, think I could patent that word?'**

'Cads, try and focus here. I found out a lot of things about him that I never knew before.'

**'Like…he has seven cats and his middle name is Winifred?'**

'Go die in a hole Cadence. It's only five cats, and I was named after my Great-Grandmother, who was a great lady!'

**'I was unaware prostitutes were great ladies.'**

'And I shall repeat: I hate you.'

**'Okay, okay, what's going on between you two, for cereal?'**

'You mean serial?'

**'No, I really want some cereal right now.'**

'ANYWAY, we owled all summer, and I think he's going to ask me out soon.'

**'Wow, go Ames!'** I wrote before I drew a stick doing some inappropriate dance moves and charmed it to move on the parchment. I didn't get to admire my handy work because Amelie destroyed the parchment after she conjured a pair of scissors.

Once class was over and we received an extensive homework assignment that would surely make me want to strangle myself, we broke for lunch. I treated myself to some grilled chicken and salad with no dressing, and tried to ignore Anders next to me stuffing donut after donut into his mouth.

Charlie and Miles were across from us talking about the upcoming quidditch tryouts, Amelie was reviewing her Charms summer work (I seriously don't know why I was picked for prefect over her) and Abigail was down the table gossiping with Delia and Louise. I'd heard that the two of them only passed their OWLs for Muggle Studies and Herbology, and had to repeat their other courses with the fifth years. Dimwits.

Charms was the same as Runes, meaning I paid absolutely no attention and traded notes with Amelie while Miles, Griffon, and Charlie tried to read them. I think Anders and Abigail were doing inappropriate things to each other behind their desk.

After classes, I returned to Gryffindor Tower to retrieve my dance clothes, Pointe shoes, and Amelie's WizRadio. I went to my usual classroom on the sixth floor and used my wand to transfigure the room into a dance studio with a long, wooden barre and mirrors. I set Amelie's radio to a classical station and began stretching and warming myself up.

I danced for two hours, forcing myself to work harder and harder until I thought that my entire body was going to come apart at the seams. When I was dancing, nothing else mattered. Nothing could hurt me; I felt invincible. This was my only saving grace this summer when everyone at American Ballet Theatre when everyone was laughing at me and calling me Chubs.

_'Now I want everyone to watch Cadence here: see how her movements take up the entirety of the music, and there's no pauses? Even during the adagio I expect all of you to flow from one move to the next, and if it's even the slightest bit jerky, you'll be sitting in the splits for the next 45 minutes!' Madame Blackwell barked. _

_I could feel everyone's eyes on me. Most were unkind and unforgiving. I stopped as the music came to an end and, breathing heavily, finally looked over at the rest of my classmates. I was just in time to see Savannah lean over to Collin and Catherine and whisper something behind her hand. They began smirking at me, and I averted my gaze to the ground, walking over to everyone and trying to hide in the crowd. _

_'Nice job Chubs,' Collin whispered, reaching over to squeeze my bum. _

Once I was done, I tossed a faded gray sweater and black leggings on over my leotard and tights, heading for the library to begin working on my Runes assignment. We had to translate a dialogue between two people who had now been dead for three centuries and discuss why it was an important aspect in the development of today's modern Rune symbols. The answer was a) no one cared.

"Hello Griffon, Annalisa," I said as I reached a table near the stacks of the library. "Mind if I sit here?"

Annalisa Samuels, a Ravenclaw prefect in our year, smiled and gestured towards the empty seat across from her, but Griffon didn't respond, his eyes practically glued to his book.

"Hey Griffon buddy, love you too," I said sarcastically, before taking out my own work.

He held up a finger. "Can't talk, have to memorize."

At my confused expression, Annalisa filled me in. "Professor Vector told us that the first day back we'd have a quiz involving a formula she gave us over the summer, and Griffon here has taken it upon himself to memorize all 24 steps of it."

I shook my head. Sometimes, Griffon was just too much of a highflyer. He really should have been a Ravenclaw, although Griffon the Ravenclaw didn't have quite the same ring to it that Griffon the Gryffindor did.

After about an hour, we ended our study session to grab dinner, where I got to feast my eyes upon the various tongue positions of Abigail and Anders. Amelie and Miles were off doing Merlin-knows-what, so I sat next to Griffon and listened to his conversation with Charlie like the true creep that I was. I guess boys really did talk about quidditch and girls this much.

Later on, at about 8pm, I was just about to leave the portrait hole with the intent of going on a late night jog when Charlie called my name.

"Cadence! Are you going for a run?"

I looked down at myself, with my spandex leggings and t-shirt that boasted the phrase _Birmingham Royal Ballet_ across the front, and Muggle trainers. "Erm, yes."

"Would it be all right if I joined you? I need to get in shape for the quidditch season." Charlie actually looked nervous.

I nodded, my long ponytail bobbing. "Er…sure, I suppose. Running's better with company anyways. Are you ready right now?"

At his affirmation, the two of us set off for the quidditch pitch.

"So have you talked to Miles?" I inquired after a few minutes of silence.

Charlie brought himself out of his thoughts. "Yeah, on the way to Charms today. He said the two of them 'got together' a few times over the summer."

I gaped. "That bimbo! She only told me they owled. Can't believe my own best friend lied to me…"

"Hey, Miles wasn't exactly straightforward with me either. I guess the two of them just want to keep things private until they're officially an item," Charlie claimed.

I pursed my lips. "I suppose so. I'm still not happy about the lying though." Charlie agreed as the two of us reached the quidditch pitch. We began jogging, our breath visible in the crisp, Scottish air.

After we had jogged around the pitch once, Charlie began to speak. "So, about last night," he huffed as I increased the pace.

"I was wondering when you were going to bring that up," I managed in between strides. I carefully kept my gaze trained on the hoops in the distance.

Charlie fixed his eyes on me. "I don't mean to put a strain on our…er, friendship, but I was definitely flirting with you last night."

At his words, I stopped running and stumbled slightly on the uneven grass.

"And I most definitely wanted to kiss you," he continued. "It wasn't the alcohol; I wasn't even tipsy. I just wanted you to know."

I was having difficulty breathing, and I don't think it was from the running. "So…what are you saying?"

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. "Just come to the pitch tomorrow after tryouts- and dress warmly."

And with that, he took off at a sprint for the castle, leaving me alone in the dark with my very muddled thoughts. Hey Merlin, about that saving…I could use it right about now.


	5. Ra Ra Sis Boom Bah

**Ra Ra Sis Boom Ba**

The first day of classes lulled the seventh years into a false sense of security. After that, things went downhill, and quickly. As soon as Charms had finished at 3:30, Amelie and I had barricaded ourselves in the library, snagging the largest table so that we had room for all of our textbooks. We had worked on Herbology and Transfiguration for at least three hours, as Transfiguration did not come easily to either of us, and the theory behind it all made it even worse. Griffon joined us at about five o'clock when his Arithmancy class was over, and became our saving grace with the Transfig assignment. By that, I mean he did it for us. Thank Merlin for super nerds.

Finally, at about 6pm, Charlie, Anders, Miles, and Abigail trudged in. The boys were covered in sweat and Abigail was dressed in a revealing spandex suit. I assumed she had been "cheering" for the boys while they prepared for tomorrow's tryouts. Eurgh.

Now, at seven o'clock, all of the seventh year Gryffindors were hunched around a table in the library, noses buried in books. Amelie, Miles, and I were working on our Ancient Runes assignment, Anders and Abigail were doing Divination in between snogs, and Griffon and Charlie were carefully writing out the properties of unicorns and their magical uses for Care of Magical Creatures. We had already spent the past hour doing Potions and Defense, and still had to get through Charms.

Another hour went by, and none of us had gone to the Great Hall for dinner. Instead, we had sent Amelie and Miles, who were now officially dating, on a run to the kitchens. I didn't even care about the calories, I was ravenous and this constant studying was making me even hungrier. I dug into the Shepherd's pie heartily as I finished writing my essay in Runes, signing my name with a flourish at the top.

I looked over at Amelie. Miles was leaning over the back of her chair, helping her translate a sentence. It was very sweet, the way he would brush the hair out of her face, and, when he bent down to talk to her, kiss her cheek.

It was now Friday, and Miles had asked Amelie to be his girlfriend on Tuesday. She came back from the astronomy tower late on Tuesday night with stars in her eyes…figuratively of course. They must have met up nearly every day over the summer, as this had been rather abrupt. I internally sighed as I put my Runes work aside. I was so happy for her, especially because I had been feeling guilty for being absent the entire summer.

"Charlie, are you ready to work on our Charms assignment?" Things between Charlie and I had plateaued since Monday. We were hardly more than friendly at the moment, and I had no idea what his intention was with our meeting on Saturday. I hadn't had time to mention it to Amelie, as school, prefect duties, and choir had significantly taken over our lives despite it only being a week into the school year.

The prefects were going crazy trying to plan this Winter Formal that Humphrey and Rachel had organized. Who knew that there were so many different kinds of napkin rings? Not to mention, Flitwick had scheduled three choir rehearsals this week, as we were to perform at the dance. Amelie was going crazy because there were auditions for a solo, and she wanted to get it so badly. She'd been practicing everything from opera to folk to rock in the dormitory at all hours of the day. Half of the time, it was just to annoy Abigail when she was getting her "beauty" sleep.

This was all in addition to the fact that quidditch was starting up again, and the boys were swamped as well. Charlie was now in the process of holding tryouts; tomorrow was the tryouts for the chaser and beater positions that needed filling (rumor had it that Charlie's younger brothers were trying out) and the following Saturday there were tryouts for all positions so that reserves could be found.

He rubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah, I'm good. Griffon, you all right to finish up man?"

Griffon barely nodded, still eagerly scribbling away. That kid was one day going to realize that writing the longest essays out of the entire student body wasn't the solution to success.

As luck would have it, since Charlie and I were seated next to one another in class due to our last names being so close alphabetically, we had been assigned as partners for Flitwick's assignment. Thank you Professor, for constantly giving me heart palpitations.

The goal of the assignment was to create our own spell, one that a wizard would use on a daily basis, and write an essay explaining what it did, the theory behind it, and how it was supposed to be used. Basically, the impossible. How were two seventh years supposed to create their own spell?

The two of us wandered over to the Charms section of the library, an awkward silence filling the air between us.

"So…" I said after a moment. "Do you have an idea of what type of spell you want to create?" I asked him as I grabbed a random book and started flipping through the pages.

He snatched the book out of my hand and shoved it back onto the shelf as he leaned his back up against the shelves opposite me. "I was hoping to create a spell that helps take a mind off of something…or someone, that it just absolutely cannot stop thinking about."

"Ah, now that would be useful. I could have used that spell myself this week." I hardly dared to look at him, instead choosing to wander farther down the aisle, picking out another book at random.

He laughed, although it didn't sound kind. "Thinking of Griffon? After all these years of those late night rounds together, you guys finally decided to explore a broom closet, things happened, clothes came off…" His tone was so condescending and cruel, and it reminded me too much of Collin.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and threatened to spill over. Why was he doing this? I thought that he had shown interest in me.

"You're right Charlie. The guy that's been consistently on my mind, night and day for the past week has been Griffon, because he's the one who danced with me, assaulted a guy who was attacking me, and asked to spend time with me on a Saturday. You are such an unbelievable prick. You can just forget about whatever you had planned for tomorrow," I hissed, shoving the book I was holding as hard as I could into his stomach.

"Oh, and don't worry about this project, I'll just do it myself. You're welcome for the free grade." I swept over to the table, grabbed my things, and ran out of the library.

* * *

It was almost an hour before Amelie came back to the dormitory and found me curled up on the sill of the window in the corner. I wasn't crying anymore, but I think that's because I had dehydrated myself. I had been such a fool to think that someone of Charlie Weasley's status could ever truly like me. It must have all been a cruel joke…I wondered who else had been in on it. Abigail surely, and probably Anders.

"Cadence?" Amelie asked timidly, turning on the light. Oh right, I had been sitting in the dark. "What happened?"

I ran a hand through my hair and turned to face her, sniffing. "Well, I hadn't gotten around to telling you yet, but Monday night, I went out for a run, and Charlie came with me. While we were running, he stopped me and asked me if I would meet him on the pitch after tryouts on Saturday, but then he ran off before I could ask him what for. I stupidly assumed that it would be a date of some sort…

"Just now, when we went to the Charms section in the library, I asked him what sort of spell he wanted to do, and then he suggested doing a spell that would take a person's mind off of something. Thinking that he was flirting with me, I said that I could have used the spell this past week, and then he starts talking about Griffon and I…_Griffon._ He was being so cruel Ames," I whispered as my voice cracked.

"Oh Cadence," she murmured as she embraced me. "I'm so sorry babe, I can't believe he did that. What a bastard!" Amelie stroked my hair and I inhaled her scent of strawberries and cucumber melon lotion.

My voice was dry from all of the crying I had done. "I thought he liked me," I rasped.

"Sweetie, so did I! I figured that something was already going on between the two of you." Amelie was looking murderous now as she stared down at my hunched form. "Hey, know what we're going to do?"

"What?" I asked wearily. It was so unusual for me to be feeling like this. This summer had entirely changed my persona; normally a guy like Charlie Weasley would be the furthest thing from my mind.

Amelie smiled coyly. "We're going to the tryouts tomorrow, and we're going to look really good, and we're going to sit in the stands and cheer for Miles, Anders, and everyone but him. We can even make fun of Abigail and her minions. How does that sound?"

"I don't know Ames…the last thing I really want to do is watch him parade around the pitch like the bloody King of England." The saddest part of it all was that I actually _did _want to watch Charlie fly. Preferably shirtless.

"I understand that Cads, but this will just show him what he's missing! Come on, you know you want to make him jealous, and you _know_ you want to laugh at Delia as she attempts the splits." Amelie was rubbing circles on my back.

Scrunching up my face, I weighed the pros and cons in my head. Pro, see Charlie fly. Con, see Charlie fly. Pro, make fun of Abigail. Con, have to see Abigail in a skanky outfit. "All right, I'll go. What time are they?"

"Noon," she replied happily, doing a victory dance, which looked very weird as she was sitting down.

She held me for a moment more before the two of us brushed our teeth, changed, and went to bed. This had been a very long day and I was more than ready for it to be over. My mind, however, had other ideas, and kept me tortured all night with dreams of Charlie flying around shirtless. Merlin, I really could use that spell.

I woke up the next morning at nine and tiptoed out of the dormitory with the intention of dancing. Whenever I was particularly upset or stressed out, dancing helped to calm me. With ballet, the control I maintained over my body made me feel like I was more in control of my life, which relaxed me.

Wrapping my sweater tightly around me, I settled onto the floor of my usual classroom and began to tie my pointe shoes. However, as I stood up and began preparing myself for my barre exercises, I realized that I wasn't in the mood for ballet at all, and that it wasn't what I needed.

I reached back, took all the pins out of my hair, releasing my tight bun, took off my toe shoes, and turned the radio to a rock station. Sure I was still in a leotard, but I allowed my body to move however it wanted. It felt nice, after a long week, to just let go of everything. Bare feet, hair down, completely free.

Two hours later, sweaty and out of breath, I checked my watch. "Shit." I realized I was supposed to meet Amelie in the Entrance Hall in 18 minutes. "Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks," I cursed under my breath, running around and grabbing my belongings. I sprinted down a floor to the prefects bathroom, looking ridiculous as I ran around in a leotard and bare feet.

I showered in record time, scrubbing myself down. As I hopped out of the shower, I used my wand to dry my hair and style it into a French twist, keeping the stray hairs in place with a white lace headband. I did my fastest make-up job ever, throwing on mascara, brown eyeliner, and peach lip gloss. I thanked my organization for already having an outfit picked out as I dressed and sprinted out the door once more.

"Hey Cads-whoa!" Amelie yelled as I nearly ran into her.

I huffed slightly. "Sorry love, it's hard cornering in these," I said, gesturing to my boots.

Amelie appraised my outfit. "Someone looks nice. I wonder whatever for?"

I stared down at my oversized, white cashmere sweater, deep green knit scarf, and gray floral leggings tucked into long, white knit socks that peeked out over the tops of my black boots. "What, too much?" I asked as I internally panicked.

"No, not at all! You really do look nice. Stop panicking like I know you are," she said as she gave me a knowing look. "Now let's go!"

Fifteen minutes later we were settled into the stands, right under the commentator's box. Miles waved at Amelie, causing Charlie to look up to where we were. He did a double take, as though he couldn't believe that I was there. To be honest, neither could I. He smirked and ruffled his hair. Cocky arse.

Charlie talked briefly to all of the house team hopefuls before he blew his whistle, and he, Miles, and Anders flew into the air. The chaser tryouts were beginning.

"He looks good today," Amelie sighed, observing Miles.

I couldn't tear my eyes off of Charlie, whose tight gray shirt revealed every contour of his body as he flew through the air. "Yeah, he does."

Amelie followed my gaze. "You still fancy him? Even after yesterday?"

Immediately I looked at my lap. "I know I shouldn't…he was being so much like Co-he was being an arse. It's just that he's so…Charlie. He's a leader, he's smart, he's fit, and just so completely handsome. It's hard not to like him. I mean, after seven years, he finally paid attention to me."

She sniffed. "Well it's his loss Cadsy. If seven years isn't enough time for him to realize how utterly perfect you are, then bollocks on him." Amelie was so sincere that I nearly wanted to cry, but I stopped myself.

_'Come on Cadence, until this summer you hardly ever cried. After everything that you experienced with your father, something like this should have no effect. Pull yourself together,' _I thought furiously to myself. By the time beater tryouts started, I was decidedly in a better mood, especially after Louise had tried to do some sort of high kick with her pom-poms and her shoe had flown off and hit Abigail in the back of the head.

Amelie had brought some hot apple cider in a thermos and we sat sipping it as we watched the chasers get chosen. A second year African American girl named Angelina Johnson received the coveted spot, and though she was small and inexperienced, she flew with the confidence that Miles and Anders had after six years of playing. A blonde haired girl whose name I believed was Alicia became a reserve.

The beaters tryout was extremely entertaining. Two identical redheaded boys that I took to be Charlie's younger brothers acted as though they were extremely nervous and had never been on a broom before, making others see them as underdogs. Then, when their turns came, they rocketed into the air and whacked the bludger around with so much accuracy and force that even Charlie, whom I was certain had seen them play before, looked impressed. Needless to say, they were chosen for the team.

As the tryouts came to a close and students began filing off of the pitch, most rather dejectedly, Amelie began to head down the steps to find Miles. I was getting ready to walk back to the castle by myself when she called my name.

"Cadence, look!"

At her shout, I turned to find Charlie, Miles, and Anders coming out of the locker rooms in very tight, very revealing cheerleading costumes and holding gold and scarlet pom-poms. Oh Merlin, save me.

The three boys came over right in front of the stands and Abigail's band of over-glossed misfits followed. They made some sort of formation that Charlie was at the head of, and they all put their hands on their hips.

"Ready girls?" Charlie called out, and everyone responded with an "okay!" including Miles and Anders.

"Ra ra sis boom bah! Cadence Weaver is the best, la la la! Charlie's an idiot, and a big prick too, he might as well wear bronze and blue! Cadence, Cadence, she's the best, and Charlie's sorry that he made her distressed!" At the end of the cheer, they all began waving their pom-poms and jumping around. Anders was the most enthusiastic, bobbing his head and attempting high kicks.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Hard. When he saw me, he got on his broom (with much difficulty, due to the restrictions of his skirt) and flew over to the stands.

"Weaver, I'm really sorry about yesterday. What I said…I didn't mean it. I was really on edge yesterday because of all the work, and I was stressed about tryouts, and I took it out on you. I'm really sorry and it won't ever happen again. Forgive me?" Charlie asked hopefully.

Despite the fact that I was struggling to take him seriously in his costume, I found my anger subsiding. "Okay, but on one condition."

"What's that?" he asked grinning.

A smirk slowly spread across my face. "I get to take a picture of you in that outfit later." He began to laugh. "You think I'm joking? Okay, maybe I am. My real condition is that you still hang out with me as planned. I dressed warmly and everything."

Charlie whooped in joy and spun his broom around. "I can't believe this cheer thing worked! Tell me, is it the low-cut top?" He modeled the tiny top, showing off his ginger colored chest hair that was poking over the collar.

I laughed and rolled my eyes, looking over to see Amelie and Miles talking down by the quidditch hoops.

"Give me five minutes to get changed, and meet me in the center of the pitch, okay?" Charlie flew away without waiting for a response. He really needed to stop doing that.

Five minutes later, Charlie flew back over. At this point, everyone else had left the pitch. Amelie had gone back to the castle with Miles with the promise to catch up with me later. Seeing him in his maroon sweater and black Muggle jeans made my heart beat a little faster. Since we spent so much time in our uniforms, seeing someone on the weekends in casual clothes made everything seem much more personal, and Charlie just flat out looked good.

"Are you ready?" he asked, and I nodded.

"What are we doing?" I inquired, adjusting my scarf.

Charlie gave me a heart-stopping grin. "Get on and you'll see."

"…excuse me?"

At his snort, I glared and shoved him. "I'm sorry, that was just such a precious response," he smirked.

"Yeah well you won't think it's so precious once I take this broom and shove it up your-"

"Whoa, all right, got it, Weaver's a feisty one, don't mess with her! But seriously Weaver, just get on. I won't let anything happen to you," Charlie said. "Unless you want it to," he added, flicking his eyebrows up and down.

I scoffed and apprehensively climbed onto his broomstick, sitting in front of him. I was a Gryffindor dammit, so what if I was terrified of heights?

"Yikes!" I yelped as the broom lurched forward. I could feel Charlie's chest vibrate behind me and I knew he was laughing.

He brought his mouth by my ear. "Just relax and enjoy, Weaver."

In all honesty, it was hard to be focused on my fear of heights when Charlie's arms were settled around me so that he could steer us, and even harder to concentrate as his scent penetrated my nostrils. He smelled of grass, pine, and autumn, and it was intoxicating.

I turned my head slightly so that I could talk to him. "Where are we going?"

His lips, which were much too close to mine for comfort, twisted into a mysterious smile. "You'll see."

Tell me Merlin, why didn't I like the sound of that?

…I'll tell you why. We were headed for the Forbidden Forest.

"Erm, Charlie? Isn't the Forbidden Forest, you know…forbidden?" he laughed again. "I'm getting really sick of you laughing at me, you know," I responded casually, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.

The laughing ceased. "Sorry Weaver, it's just that you're so funny. You're a fun person to be around," Charlie said sincerely. I harrumphed and readjusted myself on the broom as we began to descend.

I tried not to let my apprehension show, despite the fact that we were landing in the thick of a forest filled with dangerous and deadly creatures. "So…where are we and do you come here often?"

"If I told you how many times I've been here you might have a heart attack," he replied with a smirk as he shouldered his broom. "This way Weaver."

I trailed closely behind him, not eager to be alone and surrounded by darkness. Despite the fact that it was midday, no light was able to escape through the trees.

"You sure know how to get into trouble Charlie," I remarked, bumping his shoulder with mine.

He scoffed indignantly and bumped me back. "Someone had to teach the twins to misbehave," he said as he winked.

I giggled and bumped him again, and soon it was an all-out war. The fourth time he bumped into me, I began to topple over, and at the last second I grabbed his arm, dragging him with me. We landed harshly on the forest floor.

"Ugh," I groaned, picking my head up and looking around. Charlie's upper body was haphazardly spread across my own, his arms on either side of my torso. "Oh, hello." My voice was faint as his eyes bored into mine, and I think I stopped breathing for a moment.

A rustling in a nearby bush caused us to whip our heads around. I clutched the sleeves of Charlie's sweater as he held a finger up to his lips, indicating that I be quiet. Yes, because when I hear a suspicious noise in a forest that's supposed to be off-limits to me, I run around screaming and banging pots together.

Charlie's mouth spread into a slow smile as he pointed to his right. I followed his finger to see a slab of meat strung up a tree branch slowly beginning to disappear, almost like magic.

"Thestrals?" I whispered in wonder, not having been in their proximity since that Care of Magical Creatures lesson years ago.

He nodded and pulled the two of us into a sitting position, our backs against a tree. We stayed like that for what must have been at least an hour. I was hyperaware of his body so close to my own, and my skin was tingling from the heat between the two of us.

A footprint showed up in the mud just feet from where we were sitting and I looped my arms through Charlie's right elbow, partly in excitement and partly in fear. I could feel his gaze on me but I refused to look, instead focusing on the spot where the thestral was standing.

"Oh Charlie," I whispered. "Thank you so much for bringing me here, this is brilliant."

He looked pleased, and he pulled the two of us into a standing position. "You're welcome," he murmured, deliberately dropping his eyes to my lips. After a few seconds, he smirked and held out his broom. "Well, we'd best be getting back. If I don't bring you back in one piece and soon, Amelie might barbecue my head."

Masking my disappointment, I laughed and gingerly settled myself on the broom, this time in back of Charlie. "All right Weasley, take me away!" And he did.


	6. Stuck Like Glue

**Stuck Like Glue**

"Hello stranger," Amelie remarked as I took a seat next to her at the Gryffindor table. "Toast?"

I shook my head at the platter of breakfast food. "No thanks, I just danced a lot and all I really want is something to drink."

I had successfully avoided everyone, including Amelie and Charlie, for the rest of the weekend. I had feverishly worked on my ballet technique and had even gotten up at 6am today just so that I could get a proper two hours in before classes. As soon as Charlie and I had gotten back to the castle on Saturday, he immediately began to pretend that we had never spent time together, and had instead gone off somewhere with Anders and Griffon. After that display of rejection, I had decided to isolate myself as a means of self-preservation.

Speak of the devil…

Charlie and Miles came casually strolling into the hall, looking like they didn't have a care in the world. Prats.

"Morning Ducky," Amelie said as she kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

Miles slid into the spot on her right. "Ducky?"

I coughed and began preparing myself a cup of coffee as Charlie settled himself directly across from me, his brown eyes focused on my face.

"Yes, your last name is Duckworth, so therefore you are my ducky." Amelie was very matter-of-fact.

He nudged my foot with his own and I knocked into my mug, spilling coffee on the table.

"Do I have any say in this?" Miles asked exasperatedly as I mopped up my spill.

Charlie smirked and nudged my foot again, trying to make me look at him.

Amelie pretended to think. "Hmm…nope!"

He could nudge my foot all he wanted, he was not going to get a rise out of me. This was a new strategy of his, and I was unprepared. I had been prepared for him to continue ignoring my existence. I had been ready for him to treat me like his Great-Uncle Elvis or an equally irritating and smelly relative, but this…this was too strange. Him actually working to get my attention?

"Morning all! Hey Charlie, why are you playing footsies with Cadence?" Griffon had absolutely superb timing.

My face went beet red and I hastily sipped my coffee, ignoring everyone's stares.

"I wasn't," he said smoothly. "I was merely trying to get her to acknowledge my existence."

And now he was trying to make me look like the uppity one here? Not a chance.

I set my mug down harder than I should have. "I'm not acknowledging your existence? Well, how about this?" And with that, I dumped the bowl of sugar cubes over his head. Now it looked like he had dandruff. Hahaha! Take that dandruff boy!

"What the hell Weaver! What was that for?" he dusted himself off and slapped Griffon's hands when he began to pluck sugar crumbs out of his hair.

Casually sipping from my mug, I shrugged. "Just trying to see if I could get a rise out of you. Anyways, I'm off to potions!"

"She's so weird," Charlie whispered as I walked away from the table.

Too right I was, but dumping sugar on him had been completely satisfying. He couldn't keep doing these big gestures that made it seem like he was interested and then go back to acting like we had never interacted in the first place.

I got to class early and settled myself at the table to the front, sure that Charlie wouldn't follow me there. I was right, as Amelie, Miles, Humphrey, and Rachel Stevenson took the seats surrounding me, leaving Charlie and Griffon to sit with the rest of the Ravenclaws.

"Today we will continue brewing the potions from your summer work. Find your partners from last class," Snape droned, flicking his wand at the board.

Oh come on! I made special effort to avoid Stupid Ginger Face today.

"Looks like you're stuck with me Weaver," Stupid Ginger Face said as he slid into the vacated seat beside me. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

I subconsciously reached back and made sure that my hair was lying flat. "Yes, stuck being the golden term there."

He reached out and tugged a loose strand of hair. "You know you're happy that we're partners."

"Are you happy that we're partners Charlie?" I asked suddenly.

He stared at me for a moment in shock, before nodding his head shortly and pulling my parchment towards him. Aww, he was embarrassed! How adorable!

"News to me," I muttered, lighting the flame beneath our cauldron.

His head whipped up. "Why?"

"Aside from the fact that you went right back to pretending I didn't exist after we got back from our-after we got back from the forest, no reason." I wasn't going to act like nothing was wrong.

I began crushing fly wings into dust while Charlie continued to stare. I went through the preparation of four ingredients before he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"You seem to be saying that an awful lot," I remarked calmly as I counted out the number of hippogriff feathers we needed.

He ran a hand across his face, a habit of his that I doubted he even noticed. "I know Weaver, and my only explanation is that I was busy with quidditch things this weekend. I'm trying to figure out what to do about Saturday."

"What about Saturday?" I couldn't help it, my interest was piqued.

Charlie sighed. "Only seven people signed up for the reserve tryouts, and five of them just tried out on Saturday and were absolute rubbish."

"I guess it's no surprise that people don't want to sit on the bench all season and fetch water for the other team members," I said as I finished chopping up the gurdyroots.

"Yes, but now I really don't know what to do. We have Spinnet, the only reserve so far. There's no one to cover for Wood, my brothers, or for me. Our first match is in 3 weeks, and it's Ravenclaw, so you know they'll be out for blood." Charlie looked so worried that I swore he had aged five years as he stirred the potion counter-clockwise.

I put both of my elbows on the desk and faced him, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt for his behavior this weekend. "So…why not cancel the tryouts and hold a sort of…free-for-all instead? Loads more people are bound to come, and you might find some undiscovered talent."

Charlie opened his mouth, but right as he was about to respond Snape swooped over. "Talking about quidditch in class? Five points from Gryffindor, from each of you."

I curled my lips inward and rubbed them together to prevent myself from cursing aloud. Charlie was flexing his fists in an effort to bite back a retort. Once Snape left to criticize Griffon and Sarah Jones' work, Charlie leaned over the cauldron.

"You, my friend, are bloody brilliant."

I glowed for the rest of class and I was not ashamed. I was sad to have to leave Charlie as I set off for Runes with Amelie, Miles, and Griffon. Was it bad that I just wanted to spend all day with him, despite the fact that he was rotating between feelings of indifference and romance for me?

The most interesting thing that happened in Runes was when Grady O'Malley hocked a spit ball at Humphrey and it lodged right behind his ear. First of all, I had no idea how O'Malley had made it to the N.E.W.T level of anything, let alone Runes, and second of all, while I felt bad for Humphrey, I found it horribly amusing how Bathsheba didn't notice Humphrey squealing like a little girl.

Once in the Great Hall for lunch, I treated myself to salad with sundried tomatoes and sunflower seeds, as well as half a goblet of pumpkin juice. I ignored the chatter around me and pulled out my ballet journal. I had done two hours of barre this morning, ate nothing for breakfast, but had coffee, which was at least fifty calories thanks to the creamer. I was now eating a salad with no dressing, which was about a hundred calories, and drinking pumpkin juice, another hundred calories. If I ate the same thing for dinner and just drank water, I could do crunches before bed and be even for today.

"What are you writing?" Miles inquired over my shoulder as he bit into an egg and ham sandwich.

I slammed the diary shut. "Nothing."

Anders grinned through a mouthful of food. "I bet she was writing about Charlie."

As everyone at the table, including Charlie, began to laugh, I began to shake. Everyone laughing at me over a boy was all too familiar…and all too painful.

_'All right everyone, grand jetés across the floor, one at a time!' _

_At Madame Blackwell's orders, everyone lined up. I slid into place near the end, not eager to have everyone staring at me. Savannah was at the head of the line, and she shot me a smug look before she did three ballet runs and lifted herself into the air in a perfect split. _

_The students in front of me were going too fast, and my turn was coming up much too quickly. I could practically hear the laughter as I ran into my jumps. As I finished, someone made crashing sounds as I walked back over to the group, indicating that I was heavy. Everyone snickered, and Collin whispered, 'Nice job, Dumbo.'_

_A flying elephant, how original…and how humiliating. _

_'You know Cadence, you're a pretty decent lay,' Collin said later as he pulled his T-shirt on._

_I was silent as I toyed with my sheets. My roommate, Marietta, was off with Savannah, so Collin had come knocking on my door. No matter how horrible he was to me in class, I could never deny him._

_'See you in class…Dumbo,' he said as he shut the door behind him. I could still hear his laughter through the closed door._

As I stood up and left the Hall, Anders called after me.

"Aw come on Cadence, I was only having a go with you!" More laughter. Shake it off, Cadence.

I was surprised to see Amelie already in her regular seat when I walked into the Charms classroom.

"Ames?" I asked, and she jumped.

"Merlin Cadence, you scared me! And now I've lost my page," she pouted, rifling through the pages in her novel.

I set my satchel down on the desk and seated myself beside her. "Why weren't you at lunch?"

"Oh you know…Miles and I got into a bit of a row after Runes," she said with a sigh.

I frowned. "Oh. I thought you two went for a snog. What did you row about?"

"Well, this whole weekend I begged for him to listen to my song for the solo audition, just for five minutes, and he kept promising me that he would. But then he kept coming up with excuses and never got around to listening to it. And then, this morning, I got a letter from my father about Marguerite, and he barely even looked at it when I tried to show it to him." Amelie slumped, with her head in the palm of her hand.

"What was the letter about?" I inquired.

With an exhale, she reached into her robes pocket and handed me a piece of wrinkled pink parchment. After I had read it, I slowly set it down on the desk. "Oh Amelie, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I mean, it's not, but what else can I do? It's that bloody cow Marguerite! Trying to keep my father from me…and it's working. Surprise trip to Germany my arse…she's had this planned for months I bet. Now I'll get to spend my holidays here, alone," she said bitterly.

I squeezed her hand. "No, you won't be alone because you're coming home with me. Granted, my house is tiny and my mum and step-dad row sometimes, but at least we'll be together, right?"

Amelie smiled and gave me a hug as several other students entered the classroom, Miles and Charlie included.

Miles walked over to our desk and held out something wrapped in a napkin. "I brought you a sandwich, I thought you might be hungry. It's a BLT, no mayonnaise, your favorite."

For a moment I thought that Amelie would ignore him, but eventually she smiled and accepted the sandwich. "Thanks Ducky."

He sighed in relief and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "Hey, after practice tonight, I want to hear that song, all right?"

As Amelie nodded, Flitwick came in and started class, and I unhappily took my spot next to Charlie.

"Today, class, I am giving to time to get together with your partners to work on the assignment that is due _in two weeks!_ Get to work!" Flitwick squeaked.

With a great sigh, I turned to face my partner.

"You know we were just having a go with you at lunch, right? It was just a joke," Charlie said seriously, staring at me in earnest.

I nodded, pulling my hair up into a sloppy bun. "I know, I just didn't find it very amusing."

"I'll tell the guys to lay off. Besides, the only reason they're doing it is because they know I took you to my favorite spot," he remarked casually, leaning back in his chair.

My face grew hot. "That was your favorite spot?"

"Yeah, I like it because it's so peaceful there. It's always nice to have time to yourself."

After a few moments of silence (during which I had no idea what to say), I cracked open my text book. "So, have you got any ideas? I'm still lost."

We spent a while going back and forth with ideas, but they were all terrible.

Charlie sighed. "What's something that you do every day, but you hate doing because it's a nuisance?"

I contemplated this for a moment. "Erm, tying my shoes is always annoying," I offered.

"Great! We'll create a spell that ties people's shoes for them. Now we have a place to start," Charlie said as he jotted down the idea.

A note materialized on my desk.

**What's going on with you and Charlie? –A**

I have no bloody idea-C

**Where did you two disappear two on Saturday?**

He took me to see thestrals in the FF

**YOU WENT INTO THE FOREST?!**

Erm…yes

**Okay just checking. How was it?**

He didn't snog me, if that's what you were wondering.

**Did you want him to?**

Yes. But then he went back it ignoring me. Hence the sugar cubes on his head this morning.

Right as I went to send the note back to Amelie, Charlie snatched it.

"Weaver, it's not polite to pass notes in class, especially when your partner's doing all the work."

I tried not to panic. "Sorry, Amelie was just…asking me a question about tampons."

"Ugh!" he said in disgust, tossing me the note as though it were on fire. Score 1: Cadence, 0: Charlie.

I internally breathed a sigh of relief and sent the note to Amelie. That was a bit dodgy.

When I entered the common room at midnight, I did not expect to find Charlie sitting in the couch, staring morosely into the fireplace. I had just come back from showering in the prefect's bathroom after doing a quick work out, and hadn't expected anyone else to be up this late.

"Erm, Charlie?" at the sound of my voice he snapped back to reality.

"Hi, Cadence," he muttered quietly, turning his attention back to the fire.

I settled myself beside him on the couch and curled my pajama pants-clad legs underneath me. "You called me Cadence."

His brows raised the slightest bit in surprise. "Did I? Sorry _Weaver."_

"No, I like it better when you call me Cadence. After all, it's only fair you refer to me by first name as I call you Charlie," I pointed out, tucking my damp hair behind my ear.

He sighed and stretched his arms out behind him before placing them behind his head. I tried to ignore his biceps, despite the fact that they were staring me in the face.

I sat back and thought about how weirdly intimate the setting was. Charlie was sitting on the couch in a T-shirt and boxer shorts, and I was sitting mere inches away from him in pajama pants and a corny tank top my mum had gotten me that said 'Eat, sleep, dance,' on the front. Not to mention the fact that we were very much alone, and our only source of light or warmth was a blazing fire.

"So what's on your mind Captain?" I asked, adjusting myself so that I was facing him.

He shrugged. "Just a lot of things that are stressing me out."

I was silent for a moment, contemplating this. "Well you know, I'm a pretty good listener. Much better than Amelie. In fact, if I want to keep Amelie's attention for more than two minutes, I have to sing everything I'm saying, but I'm all ears if you want to talk."

"It's just…there's so much pressure this year! It's my last year to get everything right, do everything I've ever wanted to do, and try not to screw anything up. I've got a pretty decent quidditch team, but we still only have 1 reserve, and my brothers refuse to cooperate with me. Not to mention the fact that we've got N.E. this year, and I have so much classwork that on nights when I have practice I'm up until at least one in the morning. I've got to keep my grades up, or else the job I've got lined up in Romania with Hagrid's friend will withdraw.

"Back to my brothers…they got detention the other day, and every time they put so much as a toe out of line, I get a letter from my mother telling me to control them better, and to keep a closer eye on them. I've got to captain a quidditch team, keep an eye on my idiot brothers, keep my grades up, and somehow still maintain all of my friendships, which, frankly, is the biggest struggle of all this year," he finished with a sigh.

I squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "I know exactly how you feel, but I think that's just how the seventh years are supposed to feel. You're much better off than most of the others in our year…you've already got a job. And unless you do something dramatic like dye your hair blue and start getting drunk every day and flunk out, I think you'll be fine. And you know, if you ever need help academically…_Griffon's_ a very good tutor."

"Oi!" he said, shoving me over.

"Karma my friend," I giggled. "As far as quidditch goes, I don't think you have anything to worry about either, so long as you follow my brilliant plan for the free-for-all. You guys are jam packed with talent this year, and you're easily the best seeker and captain the school's got. Your brothers…well, there's not much to say there, as there's not much you can really do. They're loose cannons, they are."

He nodded ruefully. "Even without me encouraging their mischievious ways when we were younger, they would still be like this. They were born on April Fool's Day, they were born to be trouble makers."

After a pause, I cocked my head to the side. "Charlie, what did you mean by you were having the hardest time maintaining your friendships?"

"Oh, that. Well, Miles has got Amelie now, so when he's not in class or on the pitch, he's with her. Anders has always had Abigail, but this year Abigail's got him so wrapped around her finger that he hardly ever even sleeps in our dorm anymore; the two are usually in you dorm or the Room of Requirement. Griffon has gone completely barmy this year thanks to N.E. , and then…there's you," he said, turning to stare at me.

I squirmed uncomfortably. "Me?" It definitely wasn't the fire making my skin this hot.

"Yeah. I'd say that we're friends now, wouldn't you?" He continued after I nodded, "so, we're friends now. But it's been pretty confusing. I haven't known quite what to do or how to act around you."

"I'm…sorry," I whispered carefully, not wanting to embarrass myself any further.

He waved me off. "It's not your fault…well actually, I suppose it is, with your cherry-flavored drinks and your short dressed and your…your gigantic hazel eyes. Sod it all, Weaver, stop being such a saucy little minx."

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

Charlie laughed boisterously. "There, that's a taste of your own medicine. Anyways, we should be heading to bed, we've got Transfig first thing."

The pair of us stood up and walked over to our respective stairwells.

"Good night Charlie," I murmured, shuffling my feet nervously.

He touched my forearm gently. "Night…Cadence."

_'Night…Cadence.'_ Oh yes, I was most certainly going to be dreaming about him. Hey Merlin! There's no need to save me tonight.


	7. Almost

**Almost**

_'What a week,'_ I thought to myself as I thundered down the steps into the common room. The professors had worked us vigorously in class, and McGonagall had even gone so far as to give us a practice N.E.W.T for the theory on our work so far. There had been two choir rehearsals, one of which was the audition for the Winter Formal solo that Amelie and a sixth year Hufflepuff named George Browning were the favorites for. In Potions we had a test on the third concoction from our summer work, which Charlie and I had managed to scrape an E on, much to our cheerful professor's chagrin.

I had done my own prefect rounds with Griffon on Wednesday night, and had covered Martin Ellerby's shift yesterday as he had come down with Dragon Pox. On yesterday's rounds, I got the satisfaction of reporting Grady O'Malley and his shag/slag of the week to Snape for being out after hours.

Amelie and Miles were back to being perfectly adorable, inducing jealousy in teenage girls everywhere, and Anders and Abigail had continued to be attached at the mouth. Charlie and I were still nothing, although after our late-night chat on Monday he had warmed up to me a bit, seeking me out for company on several occasions.

"Cadence!"

Speak of the devil…

I adjusted the satchel on my shoulder. "Hey Charlie, what's going on?"

He leaned against the wall. "I was just wondering if I could come and watch you dance."

"Excuse me?" I hadn't been caught this off-guard since he asked me to meet him on the pitch last Saturday.

"I wanted to watch you dance. It's been a mystery to me for all of these years. Besides, you've seen me fly," he reasoned smoothly.

I stared down at my leggings-clad self for a moment. "Er, I suppose, if you really want to. It's much more boring than quidditch and flying though."

"Great!" he exclaimed, already beginning to walk through the portrait hole. "I promise I'll be the perfect audience."

Oh Merlin, he was really going to watch me dance, wasn't he?

We walked in silence to my classroom and I set my things down. I changed into my soft shoes instead of my toe shoes to give my ankles a break while I worked on my barre exercises. My soft shoes were made of canvas material that was once pink but had faded to white, and were so worn that the big toe on my right foot poked through them.

I took off my leggings, finding it extremely awkward to strip down in front of someone, but I left my cardigan and leg warmers on despite the heat of the room because the thought of Charlie watching me in a skin-tight leotard wasn't too appealing at the moment. Flicking my wand at a couple of desks, I transfigured them into a barre, and Charlie turned on the radio.

I began my usual barre routine, starting with leg swings and stretches to warm myself up, and then beginning my real work of pliés, tendus, rond de jambes, degagés, and battements. Charlie  
had settled himself behind the teacher's desk at the very front of the room and was watching me intently, which was nerve-wracking, to say the least. When I went to do some of my balances I found my legs shaky and unable to support me.

"Okay, now, er, I'm going to practice the solo my ballet master put together for me this summer," I said quietly after my latest attempt at holding a balance had failed. Madame Blackwell had choreographed a solo for all of my ballet auditions this past summer. I was told to only practice it once every three weeks or so, that way it didn't become just a routine when it came time to perform it.

"What're you doing that for?" Charlie asked as I set about tying my pointe shoes, stuffing tissues in between my toes.

I finished putting my shoes on. "It's so that my feet don't bleed."

He cringed. "That's not particularly pleasant, is it?"

I laughed and got out my Muggle cassette tape. Amelie's WizRadio was the latest model, and had a feature that enabled Muggle music to be played. Thank Merlin, or else I wouldn't be able to properly rehearse my solo. As I put the tape in, music from Chopin's Nocturns began to float eerily through the air.

Charlie went silent as I started to dance, and this time, it wasn't just technique. When I performed my solo, every bit of my soul and being went into it. I allowed myself free reign with my emotions and completely pushed Charlie out of my thoughts. The solo was three minutes long, and the last twenty seconds was the 'grand finale' that I had worked on tirelessly for 8 weeks.

I bourre'd directly in front of Charlie, prepared, and pushed myself into 8 pirouettes, landing down on one knee, my arms above my head in fifth position.

He blinked as the music finished. My heavy breathing was the only sound in the room.

I stood and dusted my tights off. "So…that was my audition solo. I was a bit dodgy with the petit allegro portion of it and my turns were a bit off at the end but -"

"Cadence," he said quietly, cutting me off. "That was perfect. I mean, I know I'm no ballet expert, as that was the only ballet dancing I've ever seen, but it just looked like-like the music was dancing to your body, not the other way 'round. It was amazing."

My cheeks had just about set on fire, and I took hasty sips from my water bottle until I thought I was able to speak again. "Thanks Charlie. That really means a lot," I managed, my tone sincere.

He smiled at me. Oh no, oh gods he was walking over to me. Oh Merlin, oh shite, oh arse.

"You've got something just there," Charlie mumbled, plucking a piece of lint from my sweater out of my hair gently. He withdrew his hand but he didn't move.

I was finding it very hard to breathe and refused to meet his eyes, staring straight at his chest. "So," I began, my voice very high-pitched. "It's uh, getting pretty late. We should head back."

Charlie coughed and stepped away, although every being in my body was begging for him to stay. "Right."

"Yep," I stated, still frozen to the spot.

Charlie looked back at me from his spot by the door. "Er, are you coming?

I shook my head and set about gathering my belongings. "Now I am."

We walked back to the common room, me still in my toe shoes, in silence. We never had much to say to each other, but the quiet was comfortable with us. Right as we reached the portrait hole, Charlie turned to me.

"Are you going to the quidditch free-for-all tomorrow? I mean, it was your idea after all."

I shrugged. "I'll try to catch some of it. I don't dare miss an opportunity to laugh at Abigail."

He chuckled and stated the password as the Fat Lady swung open. "Good, good…what are you doing afterwards then?"

I stopped just short of the staircase leading up to my dormitory. "Oh, I don't know," I said in surprise. "Homework, I suppose."

Charlie shuffled awkwardly for a moment and I was uncomfortably aware of a group of fifth years that were still in the common room doing homework. "Do you think you'd like to-would you like to-d'you want to meet me on the pitch again, so we could…hang out?"

One of the fifth years, a girl named Claire, turned her head sharply to look at me. "I'd like that," I said softly.

The fifth years began muttering as we smiled stupidly at each other for an instant…or three. But then, quick as a flash, Charlie's smile was gone and was replaced with a smirk. "I hope you're ready, because there will be lots of flying involved.

"Oh, I'm ready all right Weasley. I was born ready!" I was so not born ready, in fact, the thought of getting on his broomstick again made me want to vomit, faint, and then vomit again.

He backed up towards the boys' staircase. "Good to hear, _Weaver_."

"Yes, tomorrow you'll see, I'll be a pro." Shut up Cadence, shutupshutupshutup!

He was nodding and trying to contain a smile. "Sure…"

"Oh shut up!" I yelled as he disappeared up the staircase. When he was out of sight, I pulled myself up onto my toe shoes and quickly pirouetted around the common room.

The fifth years were staring. "What, haven't you ever been so happy you just wanted to dance?" And I continued dancing over to the staircase, up the stairs, all the way to my bed.

The next morning I found myself in the Great Hall having my hand squeezed off by Amelie as she awaited news from Professor Flitwick about her solo.

"Amelie, everyone at this table knows the solo is yours. You've got nothing to worry about," Miles said soothingly as he tried to get her to eat a bit of sausage.

"Oh yeah? Tell that to _him,_" she said, narrowing her eyes at where George was sitting, reading the Daily Prophet.

Charlie chewed his bacon thoughtfully. "You know Adams, I think Cadence might lose her hand if you hold it any tighter."

He was right. I had lost feeling five minutes ago.

"Hey, porky!"

I whipped my head around at the shout, certain that Savannah or Collin had somehow penetrated my magical fortress.

A group of fourth year Ravenclaws were howling in laughter at the large first year girl that had earned more than a few stares during the sorting. She had dropped her muffin on the floor and had crawled underneath the table to get it.

"I bet she's still going to eat it!" one jeered.

"Someone tell the house elves they don't need to worry about that mess!" another cackled.

"Hey Brian, what's the only thing worse than a Hufflepuff?" a third asked.

A boy with buckteeth and acne smirked. "I don't know Tim, what?"

"A _fat_ Hufflepuff!"

They were in tears of mirth.

Blood boiling, I ripped my hand out of Amelie's and stormed over to the fourth years.

"What the bloody hell do you lot think you're doing?" I yelled, my eyes flashing.

For a brief moment they were caught off-guard, before Tim, who seemed to be the leader, leered.

"We're just having a laugh is all," he said smarmily.

I scoffed. "Right, a laugh. Well first of all, I hope you can get it through your thick head that 'having a laugh' at someone like that shows that not only are you a completely horrible person, but that you are poorly representing your house. The whole of Ravenclaw is now perceived badly, what do you think about that? And I really don't think that you're in any position to judge someone, especially based on their house.

"As a prefect, I have access to the grading roster, and guess what? This girl, Hannah, is the top of her class! You want to know who else is at the top of their class for every year? One Ravenclaw. There's only one Ravenclaw at the top of his class. The rest are Hufflepuffs, and two Gryffindors. So not only is Hannah smarter and harder working than you lot, but she seems to be a kinder, better person. If you don't want to be seen as a horrid human being for the rest of your Hogwarts existence, I suggest you apologize," I hissed, before returning to my spot next to Amelie.

With all the adrenaline rushing through my system, I found it hard to pick up my cup of coffee, and wound up spilling some. It was only after I looked up from my drink that I noticed the hall was silent and everyone was looking at me.

"That was…hot," Charlie stated, setting fire to my cheeks.

"Yeah Cadence, I didn't realize you were so explosive," Griffon added in awe.

Abigail sniffed and elbowed her boyfriend who was staring at me slack-jawed. "I hope you like making a spectacle out of yourself Weaver."

"Oh shut it Abigail, something had to be done." Amelie flicked her hair, hitting the uppity blonde in the face. "Anyways, that's the Cadence that I've been missing this term! With all the fire, spice, and confidence!"

I sunk down in my seat. "Kind of regretting it now."

As I took a deep breath, Flitwick entered the hall and suddenly everything seemed to be in slow motion. He walked over to the Hufflepuff table and handed George a scroll tied with ribbon, and Amelie slumped in defeat. Then, Flitwick turned around and began to walk over towards us.

"Ames!" I whispered, poking her in the side. "Flitwick's coming over!"

She shook her head. "He's just going to tell me, 'better luck next time,'" she said mournfully.

Amelie, Miles, Charlie, Griffon, Anders, Abigail and I all stared Flitwick down as he reached into his robes, slowly withdrew another scroll and handed it to Amelie.

"Congratulations Miss Adams," he said with a knowing smile, walking away.

Amelie was dazed. "What?"

I tore the scroll out of her hand and opened it. "You got it Ames, you got it!"

Immediately she squealed in happiness and tackled me in a hug, before planting huge kisses on mine and Miles' cheeks.

"Oh I'm so happy I could just sing!" she crowed. "The hiiiiills are aliiiiive with the sound of muuuusiiiic," she warbled, standing up and dancing her way out of the Great Hall. George watched her in disappointment.

I burst out into laughter. Despite this morning's Porky Incident, or Pi, I was happy as well. Amelie had really needed this, after what Marguerite had done to her.

"And he can play chaser too!" I called out as Charlie threw the quaffle through a hoop.

He laughed and flew down to my level. "I was just messing around. The free-for-all ended early."

"What happened?" I asked, furrowing my brows. I had forgone the event to work on my ballet technique.

Charlie shrugged and said casually, "Nothing, I just found my reserves."

I broke out into a smile. "My idea worked?"

At my victory jig, Charlie guffawed and got off of his broom, holding it out to me. "Yes, and now it's your turn."

"Erm…no way," I responded, crossing my arms.

"Oh come on, Weaver. I thought you said you'd be a professional," he said mockingly, spinning the quaffle on one finger.

I snatched the quaffle from him and tossed it into the air before catching it. "I am, see? I score points!" I hurled the ball through Charlie's legs.

"And Gryffindor's newest chaser, Cadence Weaver, racks up 10 points for her team! The crowd goes wild!" Charlie yelled into his fist, which he was using as a microphone.

I giggled. "That's right, Gryffindor's newest _star _chaser!"

Charlie held the broom out to me again. "You can't be the newest chaser without flying. Come on, show me what you've got!"

I eyed the broom apprehensively, as though it were a giant bug that needed to be squashed. At his knowing grin, I snatched it from him and straddled it. I shot into the air much faster than anticipated and shrieked, my legs flailing.

"I can hear you!" I yelled as Charlie broke into peals of laughter. I tested out the broom's ability for a few shaky moments, even taking an extremely slow turn, refusing to look and see how high I was. This wasn't so bad.

Charlie flew up on a school broom with the quaffle. "Take a shot."

"And take my hands off of the broom? Not a chance," I replied, tightening my grip.

He flew over by the goal posts. "Cadence, no one ever accomplished anything in life without taking a shot. You can do this!"

I fumbled around for a moment as I caught the red ball with one hand and shakily flew over to the hoops. After several moments of working up the nerve and making sure I was steady, I threw the quaffle towards the middle hoop, underhand. It hit the rim and fell through, landing on the ground with a solid 'thud.'

"I did it!" I yelled happily as Charlie flew back over.

"You did it!" He squeezed my shoulder as he smiled. I took a few more shots and then tried to chase Charlie when he took my hairband and soared away with it. Eventually, we made it back to the ground, and we settled ourselves in the middle of the pitch.

I wrapped my brown leather jacket tighter around myself. "That was so much fun, thank you Charlie."

"It was nothing…I just figured that I'd make you put your money where your mouth was."

I smiled crookedly. "Well, my mouth is glad you did it."

Suddenly his expression changed as he began to lean towards me. "Oh yeah?"

My breathing got quicker and my eyes widened in fear. Screw Merlin, I was going to save myself! And so I ran.


	8. Wombat Happy

**Wombat Happy**

"Hey Cadsy, aren't you supposed to be meeting Charlie in the library to work on your charms assignment?" Amelie asked from her position on her bed.

I guiltily looked up from my magazine. "Er…no?"

Amelie sat up and looked at me over her reading glasses. "Really? Because it's all you talked about last week. Did something happen? Is that why you've kept yourself holed up in here for the past two days?"

I sighed, weighing my options. She would weasel it out of me anyways, and maybe I would feel better if I told her.

"Well," I began, "I met him on the pitch again, after the free-for-all, and it was really fun for a while. He helped me fly around for a bit, and then he convinced me to start taking shots with the quaffle. It was just very relaxed, and I was having a good time. But then, we got on the ground, and it was like reality hit. He tried to kiss me and I…ran."

She stood up quickly, sending her homework to the floor with a 'thud.' "WHAT?"

"Charlie tried to kiss me and I sodding ran for it," I moaned, burying my head in my hands.

"Why the ruddy hell would you do that Cads? I thought you fancied the jock strap off of him!" Amelie shouted, coming to sit next to me.

I fell backwards on my bed. "I do, I fancy him so bloody much Ames. I just, I don't know, freaked! I've only ever kissed one guy before, and it didn't exactly turn out so well."

Amelie looked at me sharply. "Details. Now."

'_You can do this Cadence. She's your best friend, and she deserves to know.' _

Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself. "When I said there weren't any boys this summer…I lied. There was a boy there, an American named Collin. He approached me on the first day of the program and told me what a beautiful dancer I was. At first I thought he was gay but then he asked me to go on a date with him. Everything was great for a week or so; he was so sweet, always complimenting me and being my partner in class, but then…things changed.

"The other girls started getting nasty with me, and Collin would start making comments about my weight. He would say things like, 'if it weren't for your body, you could totally be a super model,' or 'are you really going to eat that _entire_ bagel?' and I started doubting myself. When my confidence was shaken, the other girls swooped in and just kind of ganged up on me. I don't know why. The worst part of all is, I stayed with him, and then even when I wasn't with him, I was still with him." At this point I was in tears and didn't care if I was making sense or not.

Amelie smoothed down my hair and wrapped an arm around me. "Cads, I can't believe you never told me! You know I would've come down there and kicked their sorry arses!"

"I know Ames, but I was just so ashamed. And now I've gone and blown it with Charlie because I was afraid. Collin messed me up Ames. I don't know what to do…" I sat there, staring at my hands in my lap hopelessly.

She turned to face me. "Cadence, you're going to go down to the library _right now_ and you're going to tell him everything that you told me. He'll understand! And he has to forgive you. If he really fancies you like I know he does, it'll all work out. Go!"

"Amelie, I can't just dump this shite all over him, he won't care!"

Amelie growled. "Cadence, you two fancy each other so much that I swear to Merlin, if you don't get off your sorry arse and start walking right now, I will drag you to the library by your braid."

I sighed and tugged on a pair of knit boots over my leggings. "All right I'll go, but he won't listen. He hates me."

"Cadsy, no he doesn't. It'll all be okay. Everything works out right in the end," she said encouragingly as she shooed me towards the door.

The trek to the library was one of the longest of my life. I tried to think of what I could say to him but eventually gave up when I started rambling to myself about the weather. My hands were shaking horribly as I entered and saw the back of Charlie's head. He was sitting at a table in the corner, scribbling onto some parchment. Oh, shite. As I made my way towards him, I felt like I was on a Walk of Shame.

"Charlie?" I said timidly as I came to stand in front of him.

He glanced up, scowled, and returned to his work.

I swallowed hard and sat down across from him. "Charlie, I'm really sorry. Really, really sorry!"

"It's fine, I get it, you don't fancy me. We can go back to coexisting, just like you want," he said dully.

"But that's not it! It's not that I don't fancy you!"

He picked his head up. "Then what is it Weaver?" he asked harshly.

I picked at a chip in the wooden table and paused for a moment. "I don't understand why you're being like this! I just freaked out, all right? Everything was happening so quickly! It was weird! We'd hardly talked before this term and then all of a sudden you were there and I couldn't handle it."

"So that's what this is about? You think I didn't pay attention to you before, and you're feeling sore about it?" At my silence, he scoffed. "Cadence, you and Amelie always thought you were so much better than the rest of us, don't deny it. You looked down your noses at us because we cared trivial things like quidditch and girls and parties. You two were always so artsy and above it all, you with your dancing and Amelie with her singing and painting. We weren't ignoring you, we were leaving you alone like we thought you wanted."

It was as though my world had been cracked open like an egg and everything that I thought had been solid and sure was now liquid uncertainty. "What?" I whispered.

"You know, I always admired you, from afar. I thought, this girl has her shite together. You always acted so polished and put together, and you had a plan! You knew where you were going and you knew how to get there, and I've never seen someone as dedicated to something as you are to ballet. But I never talked to you because I thought that you disliked me. Here I was, the dumb jock and there you were: prefect, respected student, prima ballerina. You were always so certain of yourself, and it was bloody intimidating," Charlie spoke quietly, trying not to gain Madame Pince's attention.

I tugged on my plait, at a complete loss. "Charlie, I'm so sorry. I never knew that was what everyone was thinking all these years. To be honest, Amelie and I just assumed that you lot disliked _us_. We were always the outsiders, and we considered our artiness weird. We didn't fit into the quidditch-world, with the drinking and parties and cute, tiny, blondes. I had no idea."

"No, you didn't," he muttered, returning to his work.

All of a sudden, I was angry. I tore the quill out of his hand and threw it on the ground. "I'm trying to talk to you, prat!"

Madame Pince hissed at me to be quiet and I lowered my tone. "Charlie, I am sorry if I bruised your ego but you should know that what happened on Saturday really had nothing to do with you. I freaked out because of what happened the last time I kissed a boy, and it was my own issue. I'm truly sorry! Can't we just…carry on?"

"Carry on? Really Cadence? I made my feelings for you pretty clear, and I thought that you felt the same way, so I made a right fool of myself and you just want to carry on?" Charlie asked, wounded.

"I…I really don't know what to say Charlie. I got out of a really bad situation this summer, and I don't know if I'm ready for anything serious right now," I whispered, tears threatening to spill over onto my cheeks.

At my change in tone, Charlie looked up. His face softened and he moved around to sit next to me. "Cadence, if there's even a shot in hell of us ever being together, I'm willing to wait as long as you need. Because to me, you are perfect, and well worth the wait," he said earnestly, cautiously reaching over to take my hand.

I looked up at him through damp lashes and smiled slightly. "I feel like I'm in a parallel universe."

"Why?" he asked confusedly.

Shaking my head, I replied, "This is all so strange. Charlie Weasley, the most-liked student in the entire school told me the he thinks I'm perfect."

"Is that so hard to believe?"

I stared at him. "Yes!"

"Well then believe it, love," Charlie said with a smirk. "Now come on, let's get to work on this Charms project."

The next two hours passed by in a blur. I was so happy that I was next to no help with the assignment. Charlie kept shooting me glances and holding my hand, and the two of us could not stop smiling at each other. I just wished that I could stay this happy forever.

Wednesday evening found me in the library after my rounds with Griffon, finishing the essay portion of the Charms assignment.

"Charlie?" I spoke up after a long period of silence. "Why are you going all the way to Romania?"

He looked up from his own work, completely startled. "Er…I suppose to get away from my family."

"But don't you love your family?" I set down my quill and turned in my chair to face him.

"Yes but you have to understand…I grew up in a tiny house crammed with siblings and magic and loudness. It can get very suffocating. There was always someone underfoot at the Burrow, my house. And besides, dragons are my passion; I go where they are," he replied, staring at me strangely. "Why are you asking me this?"

I shrugged and began plaiting my hair. "I don't know, I just wanted to get to know you a little better I guess."

Charlie smiled. "Well how about you? Any siblings?"

"I have a half-sister on my dad's side. Her name's Brooke. She's 25." I suddenly grew quiet.

"Wow, must be nice to only have one sibling. Can't imagine," he chuckled.

I looked down at my lap. "Well I wouldn't go so far as to really call her my sibling. My relationship with my dad is…complicated, at best. And Brooke doesn't exactly like our father, so she was never around. I've never met her."

He scooted his chair closer to my own so that our knees were brushing. "I'm sorry Cadence."

I shook my head vigorously. "Oh, don't be. Everyone's got their issues I suppose, and I should be so lucky that mine's not something worse."

After a pause during which I made it clear that I was done talking, he briefly squeezed my hand. "Well then, back to work we go. I've just finished the theory of the spell, how's the explanation coming?"

I jotted down the last sentence. "Finished," I responded with a grin. We swapped parchment and read over each other's work.

"It's…perfect," I said softly, resting my head in my hand as I scanned over Charlie's words. It was O-worthy for certain.

I sat still, shell-shocked, as Charlie's lips came in contact with my own, a soft, sweet peck. "So are you," he said as he leaned back in his seat in satisfaction. My hand fell out from underneath my head.

I blushed violently. "Stop it."

"Stop what? I'm just speaking the truth," he responded in confusion.

"Charlie…you have no idea how far from perfection I am. No idea," I whispered. The pangs of hunger in my stomach were a constant reminder of the fact.

He shook his head. "No, Cadence, you see, you're about as close to it as humanly possible. You're intelligent, fourth in the class, hilarious, sweet, beautiful, an amazing dancer, a good friend, and a leader. You're everything that a person could ever hope to be."

"If you say so." I didn't trust myself to say more. The familiarity of this situation was enough to silence me.

'_You're absolutely perfect Cadence,' Collin whispered as he lay me down on his bed._

'_I love you Collin,' I murmured, meeting his lips with my own._

_He undid the buttons on my shirt. 'I love you too.' _

"Well, shall we head back to the common room? Curfew's in fifteen minutes," Charlie pointed out as he stood.

I nodded absentmindedly and went to grab my satchel, but Charlie was faster. "I've got that, Cadence," he offered, swinging both bags over his shoulder.

I trailed behind the burly quidditch captain, holding my books to my chest. "Thanks," I muttered, my hair covering my face as I kept my head down.

"Now that those pesky assignments are out of the way, we're going to work on something very new and exciting today!" Flitwick squeaked excitedly.

I looked around. Amelie was teaching Miles how to play Hangman, Griffon was balancing a quill on his nose, and behind us, Charlie was snoring softly as Anders routinely flicked him with wads of parchment. Abigail was filing her nails. Dedication at its finest.

Flitwick aimed his wand at the board and slowly, the words, _Patronus Charm_ became scrawled upon it. I shot straight up in my seat. Griffon's quill fell onto the desk top, and Charlie's snoring ceased.

"We are going to learn how to cast the Patronus Charm! Isn't that fun? Now, who can tell me what the incantation for this spell is?"

I slowly raised my hand. "Expecto Patronum."

"Correct! Very good Miss Weaver, 5 points to Gryffindor!" Flitwick said cheerily. "Who can tell me the trick to casting the charm?"

Humphrey threw his hand into the air and waved it around eagerly. I swore that Flitwick sighed before he called on him. "You have to think of a happy memory!"

"Yes, good Mr. Hummers. 5 points to Hufflepuff." Flitwick toddled back to the front of the room. "Well, you've got the incantation, you know the theory! Go on! Don't expect to be able to cast a full corporeal by the end of the period, but do try to at least get silver mist. For homework, eight inches on ways a patronus can be used."

I quickly scrawled the homework into my planner.

"Does he really expect us to be able to do this? He's senile!" Abigail said in disgust, wrinkling her nose.

Amelie scowled. "Adams, go back to filing your nails."

Charlie, Miles, and Anders all snorted, although Anders quickly turned his into a cough at his girlfriend's Glare of Death.

I tried to conjure a happy memory from my thoughts. Perhaps the moment I first tried on a pair of pointe shoes. "Expecto patronum!" A few wisps of silver mist shot out of my wand.

"I think that had horns," Miles offered kindly.

Amelie tried her hand at the charm and her mist took the vague form of some type of bird. It trilled a few notes and disappeared.

I sighed in disappointment and watched Anders and Miles attempt the spell. Anders didn't get anything and Miles got a ginormous lump of mist. Abigail was now touching up her makeup.

Charlie looked straight at me and stated the incantation as a wombat shot out of his wand and ran around the classroom floor.

"Very good Mr. Weasley! 20 points to Gryffindor! I haven't had a student get the spell on the first try in nearly 14 years," Flitwick mused to himself, watching my group's progress.

Charlie looked surprised but very pleased.

Griffon scrunched his face up and all but shouted the spell, although all that came out was a short strand of silver goo. He groaned in frustration and ran a hand through his hair.

"Hey, calm down mate, you'll get it! This is complicated magic. We can't all be wombat-happy," Miles pointed out.

Griffon sighed. "Yeah, but Charlie got it." He stood up and left the classroom as the bell rang, leaving the rest of us to stare after him.

Miles and Amelie went after him and Anders and Abigail went off for a snog as we finished our school day. Charlie fell into step beside me as I began the walk to my classroom on the sixth floor. I had felt particularly disgusting when I woke up this morning, and had done two hours before classes already. I wanted to do two more.

"Cadence, slow down!" he said laughingly, quickening his pace.

I slowed slightly. "Sorry Charlie, guess my mind's on other things."

He cocked his head to the side. "Like what?"

"How did you manage that patronus in there?" I asked, straining my neck in an attempt to get out a crick.

"I was thinking about you," he said simply, strolling on as though nothing had happened.

I stayed in place, the air gone from my lungs. I watched his tall, muscular frame disappear around the corner and I fell back against the wall. I was falling for Charlie Weasley. Merlin, what have you done?


	9. A Haunting in Hogsmeade

**A Haunting in Hogsmeade**

"So," Amelie said, looking around at Miles, Charlie, and I. "Hogsmeade is this Saturday. I have decided that we are all going. Together." She shook her brunette waves back as she surveyed all of us seriously.

"Er, together?" Charlie asked incredulously.

Amelie sniffed. "Yes, Charlie, together. It'll be a 'group hang.'"

I snorted into my usual mug of coffee and received a pinch to my under-arm skin. "Ow! Amelie you bloody snot!"

"That's what you get for laughing at me. All I'm trying to do is spend time with my friends! Is that really so much to ask?" Her puppy dog eyes were perfectly executed.

I sighed. Those eyes worked every time and she knew it. "All right Ames, I'm in. I need some new quills anyway. You two?" I asked, looking to Charlie and Miles.

Miles nodded and Charlie stared straight at me as he responded with, "If you're going then I'm there."

Charlie had been trying (and succeeding) in getting into my head for the past week. I couldn't stop thinking about his lips on mine, for however briefly it had been. He could no longer speak without my eyes travelling straight to his soft, lovely mouth. As much as I tried to fight it, I wanted more. I had absolutely no idea what my issue was, as it was clear that Charlie wanted to do more than just work on Charms together, but every time I attempted to tell him how I was feeling, my throat went dry and the words got caught in my throat.

"Great!" Amelie exclaimed. "Well, Ducky, are you walking me to Transfig or not?"

Miles huffed and rolled his eyes. "You'd think I'm just your bloody slave."

She paused as she began to walk away. "Aren't you?" she asked cheekily.

"Oi you!" he yelled, racing after her into the Entrance Hall.

Picking at my sleeve, I looked down at the half-eaten grapefruit on my plate. After not eating dinner last night, I hadn't even had the energy to do a full two hours of ballet this morning.

"Strawberry?" Charlie asked innocently, handing me the fruit. He made sure to brush his fingers against mine and winked when I took it. It was time to give the prat a taste of his own medicine.

"Sure, thanks Char," I said mischievously. I delicately wrapped my mouth around the fruit and slowly bit into it, licking the juice from the corner of my mouth. "Mmm…"

I sucked the tips of my fingers when I was finished and smiled at him. "Well, thanks for the strawberry again! I'm off to Transfig." As I got up from the table, I made sure that my skirt swished and my hips swayed.

Recovering from his statue-esque position, Charlie bolted over to me and took my satchel and books.

I smiled; too easy.

"Why do I feel like this was all a conspiracy to get us on a date?" I asked as Miles and Amelie speed-walked in front of us.

Charlie smirked and put his hands in his jeans pockets. "Probably because it was."

It was Saturday and that meant Hogsmeade, so the four of us had all met in the Entrance Hall at 11am sharp. I had nearly been late because the prefect's bathroom had been in use when I went to shower after dancing, and I had put extra effort into my appearance.

My hair was done in a complicated inverted braid that snaked down my head diagonally and fell over my left shoulder. I had on my "fancy" earrings, which were dangly and gold that I received from my mum when I turned thirteen, as well as Amelie's 'go-get-'em' black knee-high boots and black pants. As soon as I had arrived, Amelie all but dragged Miles out the door, taking off at an unnatural speed.

"Typical Amelie," I muttered uncomfortably, crossing my arms around myself. My thin sweater wasn't doing much to keep out the brisk October air. Plus the sweater showed off a little more than I wanted to. Amelie had said it would "make his pants pop."

Charlie looked over. "You cold?"

I uncrossed my arms. "No…" As the wind blew, I shivered violently, giving me away.

He laughed. "Here," he said, and reached back to remove his hooded jumper.

"Oh no you don't have to -" I started, my words falling short as his lower abdomen was revealed for a glorious four seconds. He was certainly lickable. "Thanks," I finished lamely, accepting the jumper. At least now I didn't have to worry about anyone seeing my muffin top.

He watched as I slid it on. It came to just above my knees and the sleeves had to be rolled up three times in order for my hands to be seen. The jumper smelled delicious, like boy and pine, and it was all I could do to withhold from stuffing my nose into it.

"Huh, you look much better in that than me," he smirked. "Now come on, Hogsmeade awaits, Cadence!"

With his hand on the small of my back, we set off once more. I crossed my arms again, trying to prevent the shivers that had absolutely nothing to do with the wind.

When we reached the cobblestone streets of Hogsmeade, Amelie and Miles were nowhere to be found. Instead, we saw Anders and Abigail snogging up against the wall of Zonko's. No, thank you.

Sighing, I turned my gaze to the ginger-haired boy who was trying to casually stand about an inch from me. "Well, what do you want to do?"

His (gorgeous) lips curved into a smile. "You up for an adventure?"

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed my hand and set off at a fast pace down High Street.

"Where are you taking me?" I shouted as I ran to keep up with him.

Charlie turned his head towards me. "On an adventure, like I said!"

After a bit more running, he slowed down. It turned out that his idea of an adventure was taking me to the Shrieking Shack.

"I am not going in there," I said, backing away from the decrepit structure.

He started walking towards the shack and glanced over his shoulder at me. "Why, you scared?"

Pride. That's the only explanation I could come up with for why I started to follow him. Damn my Gryffindor qualities.

I clutched at the back of Charlie's shirt as he gently pushed the door open and stepped inside. Immediately we were accosted the stench of must, mold, and rot. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see overturned furniture and shredded wallpaper. A rat scurried in front of Charlie's feet and I jumped back.

"What happened in here?" I whispered after a moment, my breath a cloud of mist in front of me.

"No one knows," Charlie replied, his eyes twinkling. "It's _haunted._"

I pursed my lips and leaned towards him. "Something tells me you don't believe that."

He laughed aloud. "And something tells me that you do."

I lit my wand so I could get a better look at the place and gravitated towards the wall by a set of broken stairs. There were slash marks about eight feet long carved deeply into the wood panels. As I traced the marks with my fingers, leaving prints in the dust, Charlie grabbed me from behind.

"You bastard! You scared the shite out of me!" I yelled, punching at him. As I swung at him a third time he grabbed my fists and backed me up against the wall.

"Where are you going to go now, huh Weaver?" he whispered teasingly.

My breathing was quick and shallow and I began to feel claustrophobic as I looked up at him. His lips found mine the same time his hands found my waist.

He kissed me hungrily and roughly, practically devouring me. He grabbed my braid in his fist and dragged my head back to get a better angle, running his tongue over mine. His hands clutched the skin on my hips tightly, his jumper shoved halfway up my torso. He groaned and ran a hand from my cheek to my neck, then down my arm to my hip, landing on my bum.

"Stop!" I gasped, shoving him away.

Charlie stumbled backwards, breathing heavily. "Cadence I -"

I ripped his jumper off and threw it at his feet. "Don't bother."

He stood stock-still as I brushed past him out the door. How could he do that to me? And why was my heart racing so much?

Monday night found me holed up in the library. I was at a table completely out of sight behind a shelf of books on the history of magic. As no one ever came for books in that section, the table was usually occupied by couples that wanted a snog. I had kicked Anders and Abigail out using my prefect powers about two hours ago.

I sat with my legs up on the chair next to me, still in my uniform but with my feet in a pair of knit boots instead of my regulation black flats. I absentmindedly doodled onto a piece of parchment as wisps of hair fell out of my bun and into my face. I had drawn the Whomping Willow smashing a black heart to bits. It may or may not have been my own.

There was something about what Charlie had done that felt particularly vile. I hadn't participated much in the kiss, I had just stood there. It's not that I hadn't wanted it, I just didn't want it like that- in some dark, musty room backed into a wall. He had been so…rough, like he thought he was playing quidditch or something. It had all just been too fast, almost like an attack; I'd told him that I needed to take it slowly and he hadn't listened.

"Cadence?"

I looked up, completely unsurprised as I saw Charlie standing there rubbing the back of his neck.

"Can I sit? Please?" he asked, taking a step closer to me.

I gradually set down my quill and, without looking at him, gestured to a seat across from me.

He sat down gratefully. "Cadence, I cannot express in words how sorry I am. I was being a disgusting prick, and I feel like rubbish about it. I want-I need you to know how apologetic I am, and how badly I feel. I'd do anything to be able to take it back."

Silence.

"Cadence, can you at least look at me?" Charlie asked softly.

I did as he asked and was angry to find that there were tears filling my eyes.

He furrowed his brows in sadness and reached across the table to take my chin in his hand. "Hey now," Charlie murmured. "Don't cry, please? I never meant to hurt you Cadence. I just, I like you so bloody much, and seeing you in my jumper, smelling like vanilla and staring up at me with those big hazel eyes of yours I…I lost control. You're just so beautiful and, in that moment, I couldn't help it."

I sniffed and started chuckling. At Charlie's confused expression, I explained. "We always seem to be apologizing and giving each other these big speeches in the library."

At this, he began chuckling as well. "Yeah I suppose you're right about that."

"What's wrong with us that we just can't be normal?" I mused aloud.

Suddenly the two of us burst into laughter, and we couldn't stop, even when we were gasping and choking for air.

"You two! Out!" Madame Pince appeared out of nowhere and shoved a bony finger in our faces. I got the strange urge to bite it. We grabbed our things and ran for it, laughing all the while.

"Wow, that was…" I trailed off after a moment, remembering why Charlie and I were here in the first place. "That was something."

He turned to face me. "So does this mean that you forgive me for my lack of judgment and extreme stupidity?"

"Well, Captain…I really can't stay mad at you for long. If you promise to truly take things slow with me, then I forgive you," I said, smiling softly at him. Going even two days without speaking to him had been miserable; I'd just wanted to run into his arms every time he was nearby.

His grin told me he rather enjoyed being referred to as 'Captain.' "You're the best Cadence," Charlie said. "Now get over here!" He pulled me into his chest and planted a kiss on top of my head.

I breathed in deeply, practically preening at the steady warmth his body provided.

"Come on, let's get you back to the Common Room. To prove to you how sorry I am, I'll even help you with the Transfiguration homework." Charlie slung an arm around me as we started walking.

Grinning, I leaned into him. "Oh good! I was trying to fudge my way through the spell for a solid hour." And once again, balance was restored to my life.

After Charlie helped me finish my homework, I went to sleep and dreamed about him jumping out of a giant cake wearing nothing but his underwear. When Amelie woke me up for breakfast, I gave her a unibrow with my wand.

"What I wouldn't give to get a piece of that," a smarmy voice called out from behind me, followed by the loud smack of gum being chewed.

I whipped around to face Bartholomew James, Ravenclaw's quidditch captain and resident chauvinistic pig.

"What did you say to her?" Charlie asked threateningly, stepping in front of me protectively. When Miles stepped forward as well, cracking his knuckles, I rolled my eyes. Bloody Gryffindors.

Bartholomew smirked. "I said, your girl's got a fine arse on her. I'd like to get it into a closet some time. How about it sweet cheeks?"

Before anything bad could happen, I grabbed a hold of Charlie's elbow. "Char, leave it. He's not worth it, and he's just trying to get you banned from the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game this weekend."

"You'll get all the satisfaction you want when you wreck Ravenclaw in the match next month," Amelie added as she put her arm around Miles' waist.

The four of us continued on our way into the Great Hall after an apprehensive moment, where I thought the vein in Charlie's neck was going to explode and there would be a dead Claw on the ground.

"Yeah, listen to your slags, boys!" Bartholomew crowed, and his muscle-head cronies laughed uproariously. That wasn't even a good come back!

Charlie tensed for a moment, but simply put his hand on my back and propelled me into the Hall.

I thought that the issue had been dropped, but I was proved very wrong when we got to Defense later.

"Okay class," Professor Podmore said. "Today, we're going to be practicing non-verbally disarming an opponent. Do we have two volunteers? Ah, no, let's do it this way. Mr. James, would you come up here please? And how about…"

Charlie shot his hand in the air. "Professor? I'd really like to give it a go," he called eagerly.

"Oh no," I whispered, giving Amelie and Miles a worried look. Griffon looked confused.

Professor Podmore, a squat and square-jawed man, nodded. "All right Mr. Weasley, come right on up here then. On my call, Mr. James is going to non-verbally try and disarm Mr. Weasley. The key is to concentrate on the spell, the wand movement, and the theory behind the charm. One, two, three, go!"

I waited for a tense moment, but nothing happened. Bartholomew looked frustrated and slightly constipated as he scrunched his face up in effort.

"Okay Mr. Weasley, now it's your turn to try and disarm him." Our professor looked mildly bored.

Charlie fingered his wand and I noticed his grip, so tight that his knuckles were pale. All of a sudden, Bartholomew was disarmed with so much force that he stumbled backwards and slammed into the wall.

"Phwoar…" Griffon breathed. The class sat in silence for a moment as Bartholomew steadied himself, looking fit to kill.

Charlie was breathing heavily, his expression hard.

"All right, well, that was something…" Podmore began uncertainly. "Er, so that's how you disarm an opponent, although such force is not always necessary. 10 points to Gryffindor."

Charlie sidled back over to our desk casually as the bell rang, grabbing our satchels.

"What the hell was that?" I hissed furiously as I tried to keep up with his fast pace. "I don't need you to defend my honor, you know."

He shrugged innocently. "Oh, I know. I was just showing him a lesson was all."

I rolled my eyes at his masculine pride. "He's going to be out for blood Charlie, and you've a match in less than a week!"

Charlie grinned and put his arm around me, pulling me into his side. "Aww, Weaver's worried about me! Don't worry, I can take care of myself. I'm a big boy." He whispered the last part into my ear with a devilish smile.

Blushing, I hid my smile and leaned my head on his arm.

"Griffon, everything okay?" He had been silent during rounds, and we were nearing the end of our shift. He was never quiet for this long.

Said nerd ruffled his hair with his hand and sighed. "Yes. Maybe. I don't know anymore."

He looked so defeated that I put an arm around him. "What's up? You'll feel better if you tell me."

"It's this girl," Griffon admitted embarrassedly.

My mouth dropped open in shock. "Griffon Baker likes someone? A girl no less! I didn't know you could take your head out of a book long enough to develop a crush," I teased.

"It's not just a crush! I think I love her," he moaned, shaking his head in despair.

I frowned. "So, what's the problem? Ask her on a date!"

Griffon scowled. "It's not exactly that simple, Cadence. I mean, look at me!"

"I am! And I see a handsome, brave, smart, funny guy named Griffon. Seriously, ask her out! She'd be a fool to turn you down." I gave his shoulder a squeeze.

We reached the portrait hole. "Mermaid tail," Griffon stated. "You know what Cadence? I'm going to do it! Tomorrow morning at breakfast, I'm going to ask her to sit with me at the match!"

As Griffon sprinted excitedly over to the stairs, he shouted a quick 'thanks!' over his shoulder before disappearing.

I dusted off my shoulder and blew on my nails before flipping my hair over my shoulder and heading up to my own dorm. Dreams of Charlie awaited the matchmaker.

"What's he doing?" Amelie hissed. I followed her frantic gaze and saw Griffon slowly approaching Coralie Samuels, Queen of Ravenclaw and ex-girlfriend of Bartholomew James.

I felt slightly sick. "I may or may not have told him to ask her out," I whispered feebly.

Miles, Charlie, Amelie, Anders, and Abigail all whipped their heads around to stare at me as though I had suddenly turned purple.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Anders all but yelled as Abigail clapped a hand over her mouth.

Oh gods oh gods oh gods. "I didn't know he was talking about Coralie! He just said he liked some girl and I told him to ask her out!"

"Nice going Weaver, she's going to chew him up and spit him out. She only dates the cream of the crop! She dated a seventh year when she was a fourth year! She's got a reputation for breaking hearts, and now poor little Super Nerd is going to be one of them," Abigail said snobbily.

Anders appraised his girlfriend. "Wow Abs, I didn't know you actually cared about him."

"Yeah well, he's grown on me."

Amelie shushed us. "Guys, focus! He's going in for the kill!"

Griffon tapped Coralie on the shoulder and she turned away from her friends, who were now smirking and giggling like they knew exactly what was about to happen. I felt like everything was going in slow motion.

He said something to her and she let out a tinkling laugh.

"Huh," Charlie said. "Maybe the kid's got game."

After a few more moments of talking, Coralie smiled and nodded, and I vaguely could see her mouth form the word, 'okay.'

Griffon whipped around and caught my gaze, giving me an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Holy shit…" Miles breathed.

"Holy shit," I agreed.


	10. Heartbreak Hotel

**Heartbreak Hotel**

"So what do you reckon?" Amelie asked as she munched on Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

I glanced over at where Griffon and Coralie were sitting in the Ravenclaw stands, laughing. "Dunno…do you think this is all some ploy to make fun of him?" I replied worriedly.

She turned to me with wide eyes. "You know, I didn't even think about that. I was distracted by how strange this whole situation was."

"AND HERE COME THE MIGHTY LIONS, LED BY CAPTAIN AND SEEKER CHARLIE WEASLEY! Next come super star chasers Miles Duckworth, Anders Groff, and newbie Angelina Johnson! Beaters and twin trouble makers Fred and George Weasley follow, as unstoppable Keeper Oliver Wood brings up the rear!" A sixth year Gryffindor by the name of Albert Ross was doing the commentary. I'd always liked him; he did very good Muggle impressions.

I watched Charlie walk onto the field, his team trailing behind him. He walked with confidence, looking unafraid and even a little bored. It was oddly enticing.

"From the other side of the pitch come the Hufflepuffs! Captain and Keeper Annabelle Lewis leads chasers Robert Nelson, Timothy Corner, and Ilani Rodriguez, closely followed by beaters Thing 1 and Thing 2 – I'm not kidding professor, that's really what they call themselves, and seeker Drew Kerrigan."

I watched as Charlie shook hands with Annabelle, and although he didn't try to crush her hand like he usually did with Bartholomew, he was giving her the stink eye. He was so ridiculous. Annabelle was a sweet girl, well-liked by the general population of Hogwarts, although I guess this sort of thing didn't really apply on the pitch.

On Madame Hooch's whistle, all of the players shot up into the air, a blur of yellow and scarlet, Charlie going highest of all. Gryffindor immediately gained possession as Anders slammed the back end of his broom into Robert Nelson's, enabling little Angelina to zoom in and nab the quaffle.

She took off down the pitch, and I think the surprise of seeing the small second year take charge so expertly must have shaken Annabelle, because Gryffindor easily racked up 10 points. Angelina looked truly elated as she scored her first ever goal in a real quidditch game.

I looked over at Griffon and his -gag- date. He did the whole 'I'm yawning but not really oh look here's a nice arm rest' bit and slid his arm around her shoulder. As Coralie smiled and scooted closer to him, I noticed Bartholomew giving Griffon a death glare. Oh Merlin, I was going to have to watch out for that.

30 minutes and 2 tins of Bertie Bott's later (all of which Amelie ate by herself because she was the reincarnation of a man), the match had become dreadfully boring. Gryffindor just kept scoring, each chaser having scored at least 3 goals, and there was no sign of the snitch. Charlie was taking slow laps around the pitch, pure concentration etched into his face.

"Goooo Lions go! Goooo Lions go!" Abigail and her band of merry slags cheered, waving their pom-poms and shaking their hips.

Amelie made a noise of disgust. "I can't believe McGonagall agreed to let them do this."

"I think she agreed just to get Abigail out of her office. I mean, Abigail practically lived there when she was trying to get the 'squad' established," I mused.

Timothy Corner got a hold of the quaffle and scored Hufflepuff's first goal of the game. Oliver looked angry at himself. That kid took this game way too seriously.

"Hey, remember that time that Gryffindor only won by 20 points to Slytherin, and Oliver knocked that first year into the lake because he was so angry that he couldn't control his magic?" Amelie asked, on the same page as me.

We broke into laughter as we recalled poor little Beth flying through the air, pig tails askew.

Amelie whacked me all of a sudden.

"And it looks like Weasley has seen the snitch! Kerrigan's on the other side of the pitch, picking his nose, ow Professor!, and it looks like it's er…" Albert eyed McGonagall warily. "Going to be a fight to the finish?"

By the time Drew had reached the other side of the pitch, Charlie was floating victoriously around the hoops, snitch in hand. Gods he was beautiful.

"GRYFFINDOR HAS WON THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SEASON, 270-10!"

Charlie looked over into the stands and pointed at me, grinning widely. Half the school turned around to stare at me and I blushed, ducking down so that my red scarf covered most of my face.

"Cadsy, that was sooo cute!" Amelie teased, prodding me in the side.

I bit her shoulder. "Oh, shove it, you!"

Later on in the dormitory, I found myself donning a purple leotard and tights, while Amelie and Abigail got ready for the victory party in the common room.

"Cadsy, are you sure you don't want to come?" Amelie asked as she applied a third coat of eyeliner.

I stuck a few more pins into my bun. "Yes I'm sure, it's not really my idea of fun to get wasted and dance on top of tables," I said distastefully, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Except for that time at the Hag House right?" Amelie asked dryly. "Besides, I'm only going to support Miles," Amelie claimed, dusting bronzer across her face, and I laughed sarcastically. So that's what the minidress and heels were for.

Abigail sniffed, stuffing some tissue into her bra. I made a mental note to get a photo of her doing that another time. "You're such a wet blanket, Weaver."

"Yeah, yeah." Rolling my eyes, I stepped out of the dorm and made my way to the common room, where the party was already in full swing. I could smell the alcohol from the fifth landing.

I saw Charlie across the room, smiling and laughing with a group of sixth years who were reenacting the "fight" for the snitch between Drew and Charlie. I grinned and walked towards the portrait hole. Poor, simple Drew.

"Hey, Cadence," Charlie called, spotting me. He jogged over. "You leaving?"

I tried to ignore how handsome he looked in his black sweater and how bland I looked in my jumper and leggings. "Yeah, I'm going to get some practice in."

He set his Butterbeer down on a nearby table. "Can I come with you?"

"Charlie, you can hardly miss your own victory party. I mean, I'm just dancing, you can come with me any time," I pointed out, shouldering my bag.

He stepped closer to me. "Yeah but Cadence…I loved watching you dance the other day. I've been waiting for the opportunity to see you do it again. Besides, there will be plenty of other parties this year!"

I bit my lip. "I suppose, but this is your last year! Not to mention, you're the man of the hour."

As if to prove my point, a fourth year named Dana wandered by. "You're the man Charlie!" she called out.

I raised my brow as he grinned shiftily. "It's not like they can't enjoy themselves without me," Charlie said. "Besides, everyone will be too busy getting sloshed. Come on, let's get out of here."

Trying to ignore the fire that erupted in my stomach at the way he said, 'let's get out of here,' I stepped through the portrait hole, reveling in the fresh air and lack of body odor and firewhiskey mixed stench that plagued the common room.

"Are you going to be practicing your solo again?" he asked eagerly.

I looked over at him in surprise. "Oh, well, I hadn't planned on it…"

"Please Cadence?" he pleaded. "That was amazing, I'd really like to see it again."

Oh my _Merlin_ he was perfect. He was fit, a quidditch star, intelligent, and enjoyed watching me do the one thing that made me happy above all else. Bloody Collin, ruining everything. Ruining me.

"_Morning Thunder Thighs, I mean Sunshine," Collin called out cheerfully, pinching my bum as he walked by. "Did you drink that entire latte? You'd better hit the gym after class."_

_I winced and looked down in shame. Was I really fat? _

Focus Cadence. "Okay…maybe I can run it at the end," I acquiesced as Charlie fist pumped. "You are such a boy!"

He wiggled his brows suggestively. "That's what they tell me anyways."

I felt a twinge in my stomach at the thought of Charlie with other girls. Stop, stop, stop.

Once we reached the classroom, Charlie settled himself in the corner by the radio and watched me go through my warm-up and stretching. It was somewhat awkward doing my stretches with him watching, knowing I was practically shoving either my crotch or bum into his face no matter what position I was in.

As I went through my barre exercises, I put all of my focus on my body, not thinking about Griffon and Coralie, Bartholomew, or even Charlie. That was the beauty of the arts; they were a great escape.

When it came time for me to perform my solo, Charlie dutifully slid the cassette in and placed his arms behind his head, attention focused solely on me as I rose from my position on the ground. Knowing that his full attention was on me, I performed better than ever before. When the climax of the music hit, I hurled my body into the air, the leap one of the biggest I'd ever done. The eight pirouettes that I had worked so tirelessly on were flawless, and I did them faster than ever before. Unlike with Collin, I wasn't ashamed to dance in front of him. Then again, Charlie wasn't a dancer. Thank you Merlin, for that small mercy.

I finished, breathing hard, and stripped off my cardigan so I could mop my forehead with it. Charlie began clapping and I grinned.

I bent down to get my water bottle and was caught off guard to see Charlie standing right in front of me when I stood.

"Cadence…" Charlie's voice was a low groan. "You are just so _flawless. _I know it's cheesy but, I can't let you stand here and not be adored the way you deserve," he said in a husky tone, touching the bare skin of my arm.

My heart slammed against my chest. I had never been as unsure of myself as I was in this moment.

"Please…" he pleaded quietly, his eyes switching back and forth between my own, trying to gauge my reaction.

My lips curved into a gracious smile, and, so slowly that it seemed like time was going backwards, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his.

This time, he was gentle. His hands cupped my face as he met my lips with his, before sliding them down my shoulders and arms, stopping at my hips. When I whimpered, feeling his hands clutch at my waist, he wrapped one arm around my middle, bending me backwards slightly so that his tongue could tease my own, flicking and gliding across my mouth.

"Mmm…" He moaned, softly sucking on my bottom lip before giving me three chaste kisses and pulling away.

I folded myself neatly into his arms and inhaled his boyish scent. I was a goner. We stayed like that for a few minutes, before Charlie stepped back slightly.

"Cadence, I-"

He was stopped by a shout. "CHARLIE, CADENCE!"

We bolted over to the door and found Griffon, panting and leaning on his knees, in the hallway.

"Griffon? What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, and Charlie's expression grew hard.

Too out of breath to respond, he simply shook his head and motioned for us to follow. We took off a sprint for the common room.

I could hear the yelling before we entered. I braced myself and boldly stepped into the room.

"MILES YOU ARE SUCH A PRICK!" Amelie shouted as tears streamed down her face, make up smeared across her cheeks. I quickly rushed over to her, shooting Charlie a confused look.

A drunken Miles swayed on his feet as he yelled back. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AMELIE, JUST DROP IT!"

"LIKE HELL I DON'T! I FOUND LOVE LETTERS FROM SOMEONE NAMED '_Melissa'_ IN YOUR BLOODY SOCK DRAWER! YOU NEVER HAVE TIME FOR ME AND ARE ALWAYS BLOWING ME OFF AND THEN I FIND LOVE NOTES? YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME YOU SODDING BASTARD, AND YOU WON'T EVEN ADMIT IT BECAUSE YOU'RE A COWARD!" She heaved a breath when she was done and snatched a drink out of someone's hand, chugging it. Charlie was holding Miles up on his feet.

The four of us were separated by a couch; it seemed as though the entire common room had picked sides. The female population was standing on our side, and the boys on the other.

Miles let out a cold, harsh laugh. "YOU ACCUSE ME OF CHEATING ON YOU JUST BECAUSE I CAN'T DEVOTE EVERY SECOND OF MY LIFE TO YOU? I WAS GOING TO RETURN THOSE NOTES, BUT YOU DIDN'T ASK BEFORE YOU ENTERED YOUR LITTLE FANTASY LAND AND ATTACKED ME! SORRY THAT I CAN'T ALWAYS BE AROUND TO WAIT ON YOU HAND AND FOOT YOUR MAJESTY! YOU'RE JUST A RICH LITTLE PUREBLOOD PRINCESS WHO'S USED TO GETTING WHAT SHE WANTS – GET OVER YOURSELF!"

It was like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Amelie collapsed against me, shocked into submission.

Shooting Miles the dirtiest look I could muster, I steered Amelie towards the dormitories. "You don't know what you're talking about Duckworth. Amelie's the best you'll ever have, you miserable prick, and you just destroyed it. Have a great bloody night," I growled. Amelie's economic status was a touchy subject for her.

"Wait, Amelie-" he started, looking regretful, but when I whipped my head around to glare at him, Charlie put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from continuing.

"Mate, just leave it alone," he advised, and Miles flopped onto the couch dejectedly.

Amelie was now openly sobbing, and getting her up the stairs took a lot of effort. Hannah Cohen, a sixth year that I was rather fond of, rushed over and flanked her other side. Between the two of us, we managed to deposit her in her bed.

"Thanks Hannah," I said quietly, and she nodded before silently leaving the room. That girl was fantastic.

I settled myself next to Amelie and wrapped my arms around her. "Oh Ames," I whispered softly, smoothing down her hair. "What happened?"

She sniffed and blew her nose. "Well, pretty much the entire time we've been dating, he's done his own thing. Other than classes, we don't spend any time together. He's always got quidditch or he's in the library or he's off somewhere with Charlie or Anders or…with _Melissa_. We were getting a little frisky during the party, so we went up to his room, and when I was looking for a condom, I found a bunch of love notes.

"The stars in the sky tonight reminded me of your eyes…your hair looks so good shaggy, it makes you look like the star of that new movie…blah blah blah!" Amelie mocked. "He never has time for me, he's never been there when I needed him to be, and then I find love notes? I don't understand…"

Cringing at her cracked, broken voice, I tightened my grip on her. "Hey," I murmured, shaking her slightly to get her to look at me. "Don't do this to yourself Ames. You don't know anything for certain! For all we know, it could be some sort of stalker!"

She looked at me with doe-like eyes, nothing but pain inside of them. "But then why would he have kept them? And anyway, he certainly let me know his true feelings for me tonight. He thinks I'm a snob Cadence, a rich little snob."

I gritted my teeth as I recalled Miles' statement. "He really doesn't know you then Ames. You're the most kind-hearted, sweet, loyal, intelligent, hilarious human being I have ever had the pleasure to meet and be friends with. You don't flaunt your money, you never have. If I hadn't been to your house I wouldn't even know! He was just being a berk and trying to act macho and tough in front of his quidditch buddies. The two of you need to have a talk. Tomorrow," I added.

"No!" she yelled, shaking her head. "I don't want to talk to him ever again. I don't want to see his face…his stupid, handsome face…I just want to sleep."

I smiled down at my best friend. "All right Ames, let's go to sleep." I curled up beside her and eventually fell asleep, listening to her deep, steady breathing.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Charlie asked, cornering me in the kitchens.

I picked at my salad. "I haven't been avoiding you, I've just been busy," I lied.

Charlie sat down across from me. "I know you're lying Cadence. You always pull at your sleeve when you're lying or uncomfortable. Or both."

I looked down and released my fingers from my shirt cuff. Bugger. Sighing, I wiped my hands on my skirt and sat back. "I'm sorry Charlie, it's just been…hard. It'll just depress Amelie if she sees me with you, and she really needs me right now."

He reached across the table and grabbed my hand. "That doesn't explain why, even when you're not with her, you're avoiding me. Talk to me Cadence, please. I've been going crazy!"

After the fight on Saturday, I had spent Sunday holed up in the dormitory with Amelie, handing her tissues and chocolate. I read trashy gossip to her from magazines and we went through the Hogwarts yearbooks from the past six years, giggling at hairstyles and pimples and quotes. I had done everything I could to distract her, but when Monday morning came around and she had every single class with Miles, her sadness came flooding back.

It was all I could do to get her to go to her classes; I didn't leave her side for an instant, entering the classrooms at the last possible second and sitting as far away from Miles as possible. Unfortunately, that also meant sitting away from Charlie. Now it was Tuesday. I had taken to eating my meager meals in the kitchens, sometimes with Amelie and sometimes without. The truth was, I was afraid that Charlie wanted to ask me to be in a relationship with him, and I would have to say no. I couldn't handle that right now, but I didn't want to hurt him.

"Charlie…" I stopped, not sure of what to say. The way he was looking at me, everything that I wanted to say got stuck in my throat. "I just-can't, right now."

He sucked in a breath. "Can't what?" Charlie asked hoarsely.

I looked down, refusing to look in his eyes. I was being a right coward and I knew it. "Can't be with you."

My voice was soft but I know he heard me.

"I don't understand!" he said angrily. "I've been trying to wait Cadence, I've tried to be patient. I feel like if I wait any longer I'm going to explode! What is so wrong with me that you can't be with me?"

I glanced up at him, stricken. "Nothing! Charlie, you're the most wonderful boy I've ever met. It's me! I'm screwed up!"

"Tell me why! You keep telling me that you can't, that you won't, but why? What's got you so badly hurt that you can't be with someone who makes you happy? I make you happy, don't I?" His voice cracked.

"_Collin?" I asked, picking my head up from his bare chest._

"_Hmm?" he moaned, rousing himself from sleep._

_I pulled at a loose thread in his sheets. "Do I make you happy?"_

_He smirked and ran his hand over my bare back. "I think it's obvious that you do."_

"_I meant- emotionally," I said timidly._

"_Oh. Sure you do, Chubs. Now go to sleep," Collin said, yawning and rolling over._

I stood up and began to pace. "You make me so bloody happy Charlie! Half the time when I'm with you I feel like I'm over the moon! But I just. Can't. I got hurt _so badly_. I'm terrified, can't you understand?"

"NO, I CAN'T BLOODY UNDERSTAND BECAUSE YOU WON'T TELL ME ANYTHING!"

At Charlie's outburst, the two of us just stared at each other, breathing heavily. This wasn't real. We weren't fighting again, we weren't like Amelie and Miles.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you Cadence, but it's so frustrating. You sit around telling me that if I wait, I can have you. But then when I try to understand better, try to help you, you clam up! I've been nothing but kind to you, and patient. I don't know what else to do," he said in a softer tone, pleading at me with his eyes.

My eyes filled with tears. Merlin, what had Collin done to me? "At the beginning, he was nice to me too," I whispered.

As he took in my hunched, defeated form, he slumped. "Cadence…I know you're hurt, and you don't know how much I want to help, but I can't wait around forever. How about you find me when you're ready to let me care about you."

And then he was gone, taking my heart with him.


	11. Dive In

**Dive In**

_'I am fine. I am great. I am happy_,' I chanted over and over in my head, repeating the mantra that I had been saying every day for the past 10 days. It had been 10 days since I had last spoken to Charlie, and 2 weeks since I had been happy.

No! I was fine. I was great. I was happy.

The day after the fight, I had skipped all of my classes and spent the entire day dancing. I don't remember much of what I did, to be honest. Amelie had been angry at me for abandoning her, but when I explained the situation, she couldn't help but to be sympathetic. We were once again two girls against the world.

"All right, well, I'm heading up," Amelie said softly. We had been staring at the fire for the past few hours, and were the only ones left in the common room.

My gaze stayed on the fireplace. "'Night." My voice was hoarse from lack of use.

Lately, school had become a gigantic drag for the both of us. We got to watch Charlie, Miles, Griffon, Anders, Abigail, and now Coralie all sit together in one big happy bunch while Amelie and I reverted back to not even being on their radar, much like our first six years at Hogwarts. We had fooled ourselves into thinking that we could be like them, and fit into their lives.

Since the two fights, speaking with any of them had been limited. On my rounds with Griffon, we worked in silence. When Abigail was in our dorm, she ignored us. Anders would occasionally give the pair of us looks, but that was it. Forget about Charlie and Miles. They were done with us.

I was fine. I was great. I was happy.

"Weaver?"

I looked away from the fire, towards the sound of the voice. It took me several moments to be able to see in the dark. "Anders?"

He shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "What are you doing up so late?"

I shrugged. "Haven't been sleeping much lately."

Anders ruffled his hair with one hand. "Ah. I was just down in the kitchens. Abigail wanted some warm milk."

I nodded, completely uninterested, and turned my attention back to the flames.

He stood there for a moment longer, seemingly debating something. Then he sat down.

"Weaver-Cadence, I mean, you've got to talk to Charlie. He's been playing like crap for almost two weeks, and we're going against Ravenclaw in two days."

So this was all about quidditch.

"I don't have to do anything," I shot back. "Besides, Charlie made it crystal clear that he wanted nothing more to do with me."

The blonde shook his head. "He just thinks that he doesn't, or at least he's convinced himself of that. He needs you."

"I highly doubt that," I scoffed. "He was fine for six years, he'll be fine for one more. Besides, we were just friends."

Anders heaved a sigh. "Cadence, you really need to get over the fact that none of us were friends before this year. We've already clarified that it was a misjudgment. We were stupid, immature adolescents, all of us. Honestly, I've never seen Charlie happier than he was this year. Because of you."

I was stunned. I had barely ever heard Anders speak a full, coherent sentence before. "Yeah, well…I mucked things up pretty badly."

He was quiet for a minute. "You know, I didn't want to date Abigail in Fifth Year?"

"Really?" Huh. I had just assumed it had always been a match made in heaven.

"Yeah," he replied. "I was convinced that we would have nothing in common and she would just be generic and boring."

I held back a snort. "You mean she's not?"

Anders shot me a look. "No, she's not, which you would know if you bothered to talk to any of us anymore."

I raised my hands in a sign of surrender. "All right, I get it, Amelie and I have been pathetic losers. Carry on."

"Anyways, after that first date in Hogsmeade, I realized how wrong I'd been. You see, I'd just broken up with Mackenzie Britton, and I was miserable. Things had ended on a bad note, and I was dead-set on not ever having another relationship while I was at school. But Abby changed my mind. And here we are, two years later," Anders said with a crooked smile.

I couldn't help but to smile as well. "And here you are."

"Well," he said, slapping his knees. "I've got to get this milk to Abigail before it cools entirely. As far as Charlie goes, I say, just dive in. It'll make the both of you much happier, trust me."

After he disappeared up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, I contemplated his words. Dive in. Huh.

"Cadsy, what are you doing?" Amelie asked suspiciously from the doorway.

I adjusted the quidditch jersey that Anders had given me yesterday. "Diving in."

Amelie frowned. "Weasley, Captain," she read aloud from the back of the shirt. "…Cads?"

"I'm sorry Ames, but I need him. I need to be with him. I'm going to the match to make things right, and I encourage you to do the same," I said softly, tying my hair up with a red silk scarf. "See you later."

I brushed by her, rushed down the steps and out of the Common Room. I was taking back control of my life.

"Charlie! CHARLIE!" I yelled once I was outside, shoving my way through a mob of students.

He turned around. When he saw me, a look of conflict passed across his eyes before he kept walking.

I began elbowing and pushing-he was not going to walk away from me. When I reached him, I grabbed him by the arm. "Charlie, wait!"

Charlie stared at me indignantly, not saying a word. I sighed; this was not going to be easy.

"I know I mucked things up pretty badly, and you have every right to be hurt and cross with me, but I just wanted to tell you that this has been the worst 2 weeks of my life. There wasn't a single day where I wasn't miserable, and didn't want to run straight into your arms and beg for forgiveness. The truth is…I need you, Charlie, and I'm ready to be with you. I want to be your girlfriend, no-I want everything with you." When I was done with my speech, I turned around so he could see that I was wearing his jersey.

He sighed and stuck his hands in the pockets of his sweats, leaning against the back of the stands. "Cadence-"

I put a finger against his lips. "Shh…don't say anything." And I kissed him, where anyone could have seen us. He was caught off guard and still had his hands in his pockets, but as he pulled them out to hold me, I stepped away. "Have a great game, Captain."

I took one last look at his gob-smacked face before I disappeared into the crowd and headed up into the bleachers.

"Laaaadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, oh, and Slytherins, I suppose, ow, Professor!" Everyone laughed as a smack from Professor McGonagall was heard over the microphone. "We are all gathered here today to witness the holy matrimony of Gryffindor and at least 150 points OW PROFESSOR! Only joking of course. The Ravenclaw team has just as much of a chance of winning as Gryffindor, despite the fact that their team is built more on muscle than talent-" Albert dodged another smack.

"The mighty Lions are now coming onto the pitch! Captain and seeker Charlie Weasley is in the lead, followed by his brothers and beaters Fred and George, chasers Anders Groff, Angelina Johnson, and Miles Duckworth, and unflappable keeper Oliver Wood!" I cheered at the top of my lungs, waving a spare Gryffindor scarf in the air.

Griffon stared at me. "Well that's new."

I shrugged. "I'm giving this whole quidditch thing a go, for Charlie."

I cringed as the Claws came out, Bartholomew in the lead. Normally Ravenclaw was a fair match technique-wise, but Bartholomew seemed to have replaced the entire team with the troll-sized players.

"I love quidditch," Coralie sighed. "It just seems like such fun to fly around up there."

I had been forced to third wheel with Griffon and Coralie as Amelie had refused to come to the match. "It is kind of a rush," I admitted, "although I'm terrified of heights so I'm simultaneously having fun and getting ready to pee my pants."

The pair laughed as the whistle blew and the balls were released. Ravenclaw grabbed the quaffle first, using their large players to create a barrier around it and shutting us out.

"Yes!" Coralie cried. "Go boys go!"

Griffon looked torn between being fond of her love for the game and disliking her for cheering for the opposite team. To be fair, it was her own house.

Murdock, one of the Claw chasers, took off down the pitch, but little Angelina, with the agility of a leopard, cut him off and snagged the quaffle from him. She had scored before he knew what hit him.

"Hustle! Get to it! Come on Lions do it!" chanted the 'Lionesses,' as named by Abigail. I rolled my eyes and sipped my water.

Ravenclaw scored 4 goals shortly after, and we were trailing by 30 points. For the next forty minutes, there was a stalemate.

"Welp, this has gotten boring," Griffon proclaimed, tossing some popcorn into his mouth.

Coralie watched him in fascination. "How d'you do that?"

Griffon stopped mid-toss. "Oh this? It's easy. You've just got to throw straight up and keep your eye on the prize, like this!" He demonstrated. "Now you try."

While the two of them were busy being a couple, I focused on Charlie. He looked so good flying around with the wind blowing through his hair.

Anders took a nasty foul as Buckley, one of the beaters for the Claws, whacked him with his bat. Spitting out blood, he flew over to the hoops to take his penalty shot.

"Let's go, let's fight, let's win tonight!" the Lionesses cheered, Abigail loudest of all. I bet she was loud during the naughty niffler. Ohhh the images, why, in the name of all that is normal in this world, did I think that to myself?

Furiously, Anders hurled the quaffle through space and it hit the Ravenclaw keeper with such force that it caused him to fly backwards through the hoop.

"Goal for Gryffindor! I say he get bonus point for style! No? Ah well, nicely done anyways, mate!"

All of a sudden, there was a scarlet and gold bullet headed straight for the commentator's box. Charlie had seen the snitch. Terrence Curley, the Ravenclaw Seeker, shot off after him. When it became clear that Charlie would reach it first, Bartholomew stole Buckley's bat and sent a bludger after him.

I felt my heart stop as it slammed into him, sending his broomstick spinning. He hit the box with a dull 'thunk' and spiraled down to the ground, just managing to stay on his trusty Cleansweep.

I rocketed out of the stands and down onto the pitch, my heart pounding. Charlie was lying in a heap, groaning. When I reached him, both teams were on the ground surrounding him. Buckley was shoving Bartholomew angrily, and Hooch was reprimanding him. Technically, what he'd done wasn't illegal, but it was entirely disgusting.

Anders and Miles helped him to his feet, Charlie clutching at his left shoulder.

"Cadence!" His face lit up when he saw me. "I got it…I got the snitch!"

I laughed in relief and leapt at him. He caught me one-handed, releasing the snitch. As our lips melted together, the golden ball flitted around us in a continuous circle. Anders started 'roaring' and the rest of the team followed suit. So this is what happiness felt like.

"I can't do anything with this bloody sling on," Charlie pouted from his hospital bed.

I grinned and leaned over to kiss him. "That's the point you dolt."

After all the excitement on the pitch, Madame Pomfrey had transported Charlie and Anders to the Hospital Wing to examine them. Anders was fine, save for a busted lip, and had returned to the common room for the party. Thank Merlin, because Abigail cooing at him and coddling him had been too much for my stomach to handle.

"I wonder how Bartholomew's doing," Miles mused with a grin.

Putting down the soup I had been feeding to Charlie, I responded. "Probably letting his team of 'manly-men' lick his wounds."

"I'd be pissed too if I lost to such a spectacular winning catch." Charlie was smirking cockily, causing me to roll my eyes.

After another ten minutes had passed, Charlie insisted that Miles go to the party without him with the promise to take several shots, although I had a sneaking suspicion it was just to get me alone.

"Excuse me, Nurse Weaver? It's quite chilly in here, can you fetch me another blanket?"

Or he just wanted me to be his personal slave. I got up to get a spare blanket but stopped when I had a different idea. "I've got a better way to warm you up," I said slyly, climbing onto his bed.

His breathing got heavy as his eyes flitted up to meet mine. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

I gently lowered my body over his so as not to crush his injured arm and set my lips against his exposed collarbone.

"Mmm," Charlie moaned, his hands roaming down my sides. I licked my way up his neck to his ear and kissed him just behind it. He grabbed me with his good arm and pulled me flush against him, crashing his lips onto mine. It was my turn to moan when he flicked his tongue against my lips and penetrated my mouth teasingly. I arched my back and ran my hands underneath his shirt.

Ooh the muscles…I was in heaven. I traced his abdomen with my finger and slowly brought it down to the waistband on his pants. He was no longer kissing me, but instead panting very hard.

"Shit!" I hissed as Madame Pomfrey's office door opened with an obnoxious squeak. I hastily clambered off of the bed and ran my hand through my long hair.

She waddled over with a variety of potions levitating in front of her. Charlie quickly arranged the blanket so that it covered his lower half and I stifled my laughter.

"All right, Mr. Weasley. I've got some Skele-grow, a potion for the pain, and a sleeping draught. You should take them in that order. In the morning you should be on your feet again!" Pomfrey waddled away once more and I sat back in my chair, finally releasing my breath.

Charlie downed the bone regrowth potion with a grimace. "Ugh, that tastes like sweaty socks and moldy cheese."

"Take the pain potion, it looks like it tastes better," I urged, handing him the red concoction.

He complied and hissed in relief as it made its way through his bloodstream. He paused with the Sleep Solution halfway to his lips. "Cadence?"

"Hmm?" I hummed absentmindedly.

"Will you-would you stay the night with me?" Charlie gulped nervously.

My smile was so large that it hurt my cheeks. "Of course I will! But no funny business," I said mock-sternly as I slipped off my shoes and climbed onto the bed.

Charlie's hand found my arse. "So I can't do this?"

I slapped his hand away. "No."

"Pity," he said smugly, and brought his good arm behind his head.

I rolled my eyes and laid on his chest. "Horny little bugger."

"Got it in one."

I could just hear the smirk in his voice and I smiled, closing my eyes.


	12. I Kissed a Girl

**I Kissed a Girl**

"I DID IT!" I yelled in jubilation as a full-bodied gazelle shot out of my wand and stampeded around the room. I watched it fondly as Flitwick gave Gryffindor ten points.

Amelie's lark bird was trilling above our heads, Charlie's wombat was burrowing, and Miles' Labrador puppy was playfully pawing at Coralie's lamb. By now, the majority of the class had gotten their patronuses. Even Anders had almost a full corporeal sloth. Abigail and Griffon were the only ones still completely struggling, much to Super Nerd's chagrin.

"Griffon, all you have to do is find a really happy memory and focus on that, and it will come to you! You know you're capable of the magic, it's just the theory that's tripping you up," I said encouragingly.

When his next shot at casting the spell failed and the bell rang, he once again grabbed his bag and stormed off.

Amelie stared at Coralie. "Well? Aren't you going to go after him?" she asked with a raised brow.

The blonde looked at us blankly. "I'm sure he's fine," she replied coolly, and swept out of the room with her lapdog Rachel Stevenson at her heels.

"That girl is a complete cow." Amelie nodded in agreement at my statement as we headed for the common room.

"Not to mention, she gets away with anything she wants because her best friend is Head Girl," she added.

After walking for a short while, Charlie caught up to us with Miles in tow.

Taking one look at Miles, Amelie ducked through a tapestry. "See you later," she said unhappily.

"Amelie wait!" Miles yelled, going after her. I decided not to stop him this time.

Charlie squeezed my hand. "Glad to see you want them back together as much as I do."

I frowned. "I don't exactly know what's best in this situation. All I know is that he made her really happy and since they broke up, all of her paintings have been entirely black and gray and usually depicting a decapitated male."

He grimaced as we reached the portrait hole. "Miles didn't mean what he said that night," Charlie spoke as he held the portrait open for me. "He was just incredibly drunk."

"I'd like to believe that, but usually it's the truth that comes out when people are drunk." I shrugged and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to go dance for a bit, I'll catch up with you later."

Amelie was nowhere to be found as I went upstairs to get changed and I didn't give it another thought as I danced for nearly 3 hours, figuring she was making up with Miles. I had a blissful lack of homework for the next day and decided to work off the orange I'd had for breakfast and the salad I'd had for lunch. According to my journal, I had a total of 275 calories to burn off.

Sweaty and exhausted, I made my way back to the common room, the only thoughts in my brain being for a shower and curling up in Charlie's lap with a good book, but I stopped outside the door to my room when I heard a song that was new to me.

"_I practice every day to find some clever  
lines to say  
To make the meaning come true  
But then I think I'll wait until the evening  
gets late  
And I'm alone with you_

The time is right  
Your perfume fills my head  
The stars get red  
And oh the night's so blue  
And then I go and spoil it all  
By saying something stupid  
Like I love you  
I love you..." Amelie warbled softly, and I could practically hear the tears in her voice. Had she really told Miles that she'd loved him? What had happened when they talked before? I wanted nothing more but to go in and comfort her, but I had no idea what to say to make her feel better. Taking the cowardice's way out, I went to shower in the prefect's bathroom.

The next morning, Amelie was not at breakfast. She'd been gone when I had returned to the dormitory after my shower and when I woke up as well. She must have gotten up even earlier than I had risen so I could rehearse. I had no idea where she was, but I was getting worried.

"Do you know how many calories are in that bran muffin?" Coralie asked distastefully as I picked at the food on my plate.

I put it down in shame. "I didn't eat dinner last night."

Charlie scowled at the girl. "Cadence, you can eat whatever you want, you have a lovely figure."

"Thanks Char," I murmured, trying to relax into the arm that was around me. Ever since Coralie had started eating with us during meals, she'd been making all of these snide comments towards me. Sometimes about what I ate, sometimes about what I wore, once she'd even tried to insinuate that I wasn't really off dancing but instead cheating on Charlie. She was the female version of Collin it seemed, and I wasn't sure what I had done to her to warrant this.

Griffon was oblivious to her antics as usual, as his head was buried in his charms book. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that he was one of the few who still couldn't cast a corporeal patronus.

As I stood up from the table with the intent of going to Transfiguration, I turned to Miles, who was moping on Charlie's other side, morosely eating pancakes. "Miles, walk with me?"

He looked confused but got up anyway.

"So…I wanted to talk about Amelie," I said carefully as we exited the Great Hall.

Miles' confused look turned to a glower. "What about her?"

"Well, yesterday, I heard her singing a love song. And she sounded sad, so I was thinking that it was about you." I tried to pick my words delicately.

"And what was the song about?" His voice was a little too high to be natural.

I stopped walking and stared at him, giving up the charade. "She was singing about how she'd ruined it by saying 'something stupid' like 'I love you.'"

He cringed and looked down at his feet. "Ah, right. Well you see…the night before the match she did in fact tell me, er, that."

I inwardly rolled my eyes at how he'd avoided the phrase. "That's what I thought. And you didn't say it back, am I correct?" Sighing, I continued on my way to the fourth floor.

"I panicked. I didn't know what to do! We'd only been dating for a month," Miles mumbled.

Shaking my head, I quickened my pace. "So you got piss drunk and screamed at her about being a snob in front of the entire common room because of your own insecurity?"

He grabbed my arm. "Look you and Amelie have every right to be upset with me, but I can't stop thinking about her! I know I was a prick, but I think that I love her too. I tried to tell her last night but she hexed me and left me stuck to a wall. I was there for two hours until a prefect found me, and I didn't get the chance to say it."

I snorted a laugh as we rounded a corner but stopped short as my eyes focused on two figures. "Uh, Miles? I think I dropped my, er, quill back there, let's go back…"

It was too late; he'd seen. Two females were snogging against the wall outside of the Transfiguration classroom like no tomorrow, and one of them had paint smears all over her uniform shirt.

I'm sure our faces looked comical. My best friend of seven years, who was most certainly straight and in love with Miles, was snogging a Slytherin – a female Slytherin - in front of the entire class.

Amelie pulled away from Alexandria and looked over to us. "Cadsy! This is my girlfriend! You know Alexandria right?"

"Ye-yes," I choked, stumbling over. I was by no means a homophobe, but the information was a bit much to process. "Can I talk to you? Privately?"

She shrugged and pecked Alexandria before walking down the corridor with me. "What's up?"

"What's up? What's up?" I hiss. "Amelie, you cannot be serious right now! You've disappeared from the face of the earth for the past two weeks, and then you rejoin the civil world by snogging a girl _right in front of the boy who you're in love with!" _I was struggling to keep my voice quiet, although I could tell that Charlie and Miles were trying to listen in.

"I don't really get what the big deal is. I'm just trying to move on. And who says that I'm in love with him?" Amelie asked, just a bit too casually.

I put my hand on my hip. "Cut the shite Ames. I heard you singing that song last night. You love him and you know it, so I don't understand why you're doing this. He wants to get back together!"

"Well, maybe I don't want to get back together with him. He was downright cruel to me, and I learned what he really thinks about me, so it's too late. Besides, Alexandria is a lot of fun and a great distraction."

My insane best friend reapplied some lip balm and tried to walk away, but I stopped her. "Is that what you're doing? Using her as a distraction? I know she's a Slytherin, but she still has feelings, and you're being an arsehole."

"Think whatever you want Cadence, obviously you're right. I'll never convince you that your opinion isn't the end all and be all. I can do whatever I want and you can't stop me, and maybe if you weren't with Charlie all the time, you would've known what was going on with me." With that, Amelie swept past me and took Alexandria's hand, entering McGonagall's classroom.

Even as the bell rang, indicating class was starting, I didn't move. It wasn't until Charlie began tugging on my arm that I regained function in my legs, and I managed to get to my spot beside him, where I had a perfect view of Amelie and Alexandria passing notes for the entirety of the lesson. Miles looked slightly green.

Was this really my fault? Perhaps if I'd been less involved in myself and more focused on her, she wouldn't feel the need to garner attention by pretending to be a lesbian. A lesbian…it just sounded weird on my tongue in the terms of my closest friend.

"You okay?" Charlie whispered when McGonagall's back was turned. I gave a noncommittal shrug and lowered my head so that my hair covered my face. I apologize for everything bad I've ever done Merlin, including stealing that Muggle candy when I was five! I know it was the icky kind that no one ever bought but it's still a sin so I beg of you, PLEASE fix this!

"What are you going to the Halloween party as?" Amelie was trying on various costumes, blissfully ignorant to the reproachful glares I was giving her from my bed.

I tossed my book down. "Oh, I don't know, perhaps as a _fake lesbian_." I hadn't entirely forgiven her for springing her new relationship on me.

"Oh for the love of Merlin, Cadence Jane Weaver! I've told you, Alexandria makes me happy! I really like her! I'm not a lesbian, but I do have feelings for her, so would you please back off?" Amelie had her hands on her hips in her classic 'I'm-about-to-hex-you pose. I would have been able to take her more seriously if she weren't dressed like a rabbit.

Pursing my lips, I decided to find more stable ground. "So…how are those privates with Snape going?"

Sensing my white flag, Amelie relaxed. "They're great actually! He's much kinder one-on-one if you really put an effort in. He told me that my potions are unique and well thought-out, although he gave me a lot of corrections. We usually manage to cover about two a week, and at this rate, my application for the company will be ready before Christmas!"

"That's really great Ames. I'm happy for you." I swallowed my pride for the time being. If we were going to go to Cameron Davis' Halloween party with Charlie and Alexandria as our dates, we would have to be civil. And if she truly was happy, then I would be happy for her.

The rest of the week had been dreadful. Amelie seemed to make it her personal mission to display her affection for Alexandria everywhere she went. I think McGonagall nearly had a coronary when they kissed each other in class during the practical portion. Miles was constantly on edge, often snapping at Charlie and Griffon, causing them to complain to me whenever we were together.

I had caught Coralie writing notes about me to Rachel and her other friend Felicity in Charms, but had been unable to do anything about it. She had also continued to mock me every time I picked up any sort of food item, so I had once again taken to eating in the kitchens. At least there I wouldn't have to worry about being judged or seeing my best friend snog someone with boobs while boys stared in sick fascination.

"What do you think?" I asked, holding up two costumes. "Hippie or warrior princess?"

She observed the two choices. "Hippie, definitely. You've got the hair for it. Don't put them in dreads though okay? That's taking it too far."

"All right," I laughed, beginning to put on the costume. I was wearing a short, white dress that I had dyed an array of colors with a brown fringed vest with Muggle peace signs on it. I had on a headband that matched my dress and large circular sunglasses, as well as white go-go boots. The dress was long enough to still be classy, but short enough to show off my legs.

I stared at my legs in the mirror. My thighs were huge and there was too much cellulite. I pulled out my wand and set it against the hem of the dress with the intent of making it longer, but Amelie stopped me.

"Cads, quit it. I don't know what your issue's been lately, but your legs are absolutely fantastic. You're a semi-professional dancer for Merlin's sake! Just try and forget about any insecurities for tonight and have fun!" Amelie managed to say all of this while applying blood-red lipstick. She had apparently decided on being a pirate.

I observed her ensemble: a short red dress that was low-cut in the front and had long puffy sleeves, a black corset, and thigh-high leather black boots. The sword, fishnets, and red feather in her hair completed the look. "You look great Ames!"

"Yeah well, we can't all be fabulous…someone has to stare when I walk by," she joked.

I snorted. "Someone's got her sassy pants on today."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE MY SEQUINED KNICKERS?" Abigail shouted angrily as she burst in the doorway. Speaking of sassy pants...

Amelie tried not to stare. "Errr…Abigail? What exactly are you supposed to be?"

She was adorned in a sequined corset top, fishnets, stiletto heels, and 3 inch false silver eyelashes. "I'm an exotic dancer, obviously." Her voice dripped with disdain.

"All right then!" I said cheerily, and, after tucking my wand into my garter, hastily exited the room. A shoe whizzed by my head as I left, followed by several socks and a lone brassiere as Abigail began emptying the contents of her wardrobe.

All of a sudden, the stairs turned to a slide, and after a mad scramble, Amelie and I got taken down into the common room in a heap.

Anders was standing at the foot of the staircase smirking. "Nice knickers ladies."

Charlie punched him in the arm. "Sorry, he's been doing that all night," he said as he helped us up.

"He started early did he?" I asked, taking note of the flask in his hand. Amelie rolled her eyes and hexed his pants so they fell down around his ankles. His boxers had Abigail's face on the back, and I tried to ignore the irony.

I took in Charlie's appearance. He was wearing furry boots, brown shorts, no shirt but a cape, and a hat with two horns sticking out from the sides. "Er, Char? What exactly are you?"

"I'm a viking!" he declared, brandishing his sword and puffing out his chest. "Do you like it?"

Eyeing his well-sculpted and completely exposed chest and the amount of girls staring at hum hungrily, I hastily made my way to stand next to him. "But of course," I murmured, meeting his lips for a kiss.

I tried to pull away after a few seconds but he growled and held me in place. "Vikings take what they want and don't give back!"

"This is going to be a very long night," I sighed, and set off for the abandoned charms classroom on the fourth floor. We were meeting Alexandria outside the entrance.

We found Alexandria, dressed as a pixie, and gave the password ("firewhiskey" – really original) to Buckley and found ourselves in a room transformed to look like some sort of Haunted House. There was a disc jockey blasting a mix between the Weird Sisters and Celestina Warbeck and enchanted ghosts were floating around serving flaming shots. I barely recognized anyone, as most had on masks or wigs and all of the girls were caked in makeup. A bat flew by Alexandria's head and she shrieked.

"Well all right then," Charlie stated as a drunken fifth year teetered after a scared looking boy screaming at him to love her.

I glanced at my friends, then at the party, then back to my friends. "Let's get pissed."

They needed no more invitation, and we all grabbed a shot from a nearby tray.

"On three," Charlie declared. "One, two, three!"


	13. What Almost Was and What Might Be

**What Almost Was and What Might Be**

An hour and four shots later, I was making out on the dance floor with Charlie. I was, at the moment, still classier than Abigail, who was dry humping Anders on top of the bar, and Amelie and Alexandria, who were now gallivanting around in their knickers stealing people's drinks. Miles was in a corner sulking, and Coralie was effectively ignoring Griffon while she played strip Exploding Snap.

I dug my fingernails into Charlie's back as he slowly ran his hands up and down my sides and kissed him fervently, trying to get as close to him as possible. He'd had five shots, so between the pair of us, we were very, very pissed. I barely noticed when Charlie picked me up and wrapped my arms and legs around him, only taking note when we were outside of the classroom because the lighting was different and there was a lack of music.

He rested me against the wall and snogged me briefly before stumbling the two of us up a staircase to the fifth floor.

"We're going to get caught," I giggled, trying and failing to whisper.

Charlie grinned. "No we're not, all of the prefects are at the party."

This caused us to break out into giggles and we slapped our hands over each other's mouths.

"Shhh," I shouted. More laughter.

He set me down outside of the portrait that led to the prefect's bathroom. "What's the password?" Charlie slurred.

"It's uh, no wait that's not it…lilypatterns? Lilypher? Oh, OH! LILYPADS!" I clapped my hands over my mouth after my yell echoed off the walls. Charlie hurriedly shoved me inside.

The moment the portrait shut behind us his lips were on mine again, hot and smoldering. He tore off my vest and I kicked off my boots. My sunglasses and hairband had been lost at the party after the third shot. Charlie's hat fell to the floor, clanking loudly as he took off his own boots.

I pushed him into the shower, still clad in my dress, and the water turned on automatically. The icy water against my burning skin and lips created a tingling sensation that sent a shiver down my spine. Very gradually, breathing labored, Charlie peeled off my dress, revealing my red, lacy thong.

"Oh, Cadence," he whispered shakily, and suddenly his mouth was everywhere. I could feel him very prominently through his boxers – where had his shorts gone?

All of a sudden, I snapped back to reality. I was mostly naked, displaying every flaw on my body, in a shower, with a mostly naked male. And we were both extremely intoxicated.

"Charlie, we need to stop."

I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to think clearly. I located my wand, which had clattered to the floor and rolled underneath a sink, and performed a drying spell on my dress so that I could put it on again. Slowly, I placed my feet into my boots, afraid to look at him. I stayed where I was, back up against a wall, sitting on the ground while my breathing lessened.

He slid down next to me, still sopping wet. "Are you all right?" Charlie asked lowly. His eyes were dark.

"Yeah," I replied shakily. "Are you?"

It was silent for a moment and every droplet of water that splashed to the tile made me cringe. "Yeah," he said finally.

"I'm sorry," I whispered tearfully. "I'm just not ready."

Charlie turned to me. "Cadence it's not you that I'm upset with!" he said in alarm. "I'm angry with myself, for letting it get that far."

"You still like me, right?" If I weren't drunk, that never would have come out of my mouth.

He grabbed my hand. "Of course! Trust me, we would not have been doing that if I didn't fancy the absolute shite out of you."

Eventually, we sobered up enough to make the walk back to the common room. Once inside, I gave him an awkward hug and made my way up to my bed. To no surprise, it was empty, so I removed my makeup and clothes and curled up under the covers. Why wouldn't my brain stop thinking about what almost happened?

Thanks to Amelie's hangover potion, I was settled into a chair in the common room at 10am, reading a biography about one of my favorite dancers. I turned my attention in interest to Miles who was approaching Amelie cautiously, as though she were a wild animal about to attack.

"Amelie?" he spoke timidly.

She looked as though she was going to argue, but instead she sighed and motioned for him to sit.

"I know I screwed things up pretty badly, and you have every right to be upset with me, and I know that forgiveness is probably a long way off, but I was hoping that maybe…we could try being friends?"

My book fell to the ground and their attention shot over to me. "Sorry! Er, carry on then."

Amelie gave me wide eyes. **'What do I do?'**

I returned the look. _'Do you miss him?'_

She sighed again. "All right, I suppose we could give that a go. But no staring at my arse," Amelie warned him after a beat.

"I hold no promises," Miles joked, breaking out into a glorious grin. Amelie laughed and he raced off. "I've got to get to quidditch practice, but you won't regret this, I swear! I'll be the best friend ever!"

Charlie's quidditch team had the most amount of younger players; therefore, the day after a huge party, his team had the largest amount of non-hung-over players, giving him prime pitch time. He had earnestly explained this strategy to me in the library on Wednesday. He thought he was such a genius. I smirked fondly in my head.

"Well, that was an interesting turn of events," I said as I tucked my legs up underneath me.

Amelie moved to sit on the arm of my chair. "Yeah, well, he helped Alex and I find our clothes last night, so I figure if he was making an effort than I could too."

"What a gentleman," I teased. "Come on, let's go do something crazy like paint our toenails."

She snorted and stood. "Ooh, watch out Hogwarts, wild woman on the loose!"

"I believe that was you last night!" I touched my thumb to my bum and made a sizzling sound. "The girl is on fire!"

The common room was not amused by our antics and we made a hasty exit to our dormitory. Just like the good old days.

Monday morning came much too soon, and it was back to the daily grind. This meant getting various items, including but not limited to shoes, knickers, mascara, and tampons, thrown at my head when I returned from dancing and woke up my dorm mates.

Two large owls flew overhead and nearly collided as they each delivered a letter, one to me and one to Amelie.

"You first," she said gleefully after opening hers.

"No you!" I cried. My hands were shaking.

She looked back down to her letter. "Okay, okay, okay. It's from my dad. He cancelled the trip to Germany so that he could spend the hols with me! I bet Marguerite's sooo angry!"

I hugged her. "That's great Ames! And that's actually kind of perfect because…I just found out that I made it to the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix." My voice was hollow with disbelief. When I, along with 5,000 other ballet hopefuls had entered the world's largest ballet competition, I never in my life thought that I would make it to New York City. Only 200 prospects made it to the finals, and only 50 were chosen for my division.

Amelie's mouth dropped open in shock. "That's fantastic Cadsy! Now I can say that my best friend is one of the greatest dancers in the world! I mean, people from all over compete for this, right?"

I laughed and blushed, but when I looked over at Charlie, who was sitting down the table with Miles, Anders, and Abigail, my smile faded. What was I going to tell him? I wouldn't be able to see him at all over the break, not even on Christmas. I would be across an entire ocean.

"Hey, I'm heading to Potions now. Are you coming?" Amelie snapped me out of my reverie.

I shook my head clear and grabbed my satchel. "Yeah, I'm coming."

For the rest of the day, I was in a complete fog. When Coralie suggested I skip the chicken in my salad at lunch, it barely registered. When I failed a quiz in Runes I didn't care. I was too confused and torn between being ecstatic and guilty. It was a strange sensation. He would be happy for me right? But he had been talking non-stop about how much fun the holidays would be because we had each other this year, and all of the things we could do. I was supposed to meet his family.

"I've got to head out to the pitch now, but we can work on the Transfig assignment after, yeah?" Charlie pecked me on the cheek and departed from the common room, tossing one last smile my way before the portrait closed behind him.

Never in my life had I been so grateful for quidditch. It bought me at least two hours to sort myself out. Deciding to have another brief dance session to ease my mind, I changed and headed for my usual classroom, stopping just around the corner from it when I heard shouts.

"I feel like I'm investing more into this relationship than you!"

"You're not! I told everyone about us, didn't I?" rebutted a familiar voice.

There was a sigh followed by the sound of something heavy being dropped on the ground. "Yeah, and the only reason you did is so you could get some sort of revenge on Giles or Lyles or whatever his name is."

"Miles," Amelie said coldly. "His brother is named Giles."

"Whatever, point being, you don't really want to be with me," Alexandria spoke sadly.

After a moment of silence, I heard the sound of kissing and winced slightly. I couldn't help it. "Hey now, don't think like that! I fancy you, all right? I like spending time with you. Come on Lexi, let's go down to the kitchens and get some hot chocolate."

I waited for their footsteps to fade before I rounded the corner and entered the classroom. I didn't know what to make of the situation. I wanted Amelie to be happy, but at this point I couldn't tell if it was Miles or Alexandria who made her so. Without wasting another moment, I turned on the music and launched myself into a variation that I had in repertoire from competitions past; Aurora's variations from Act II of Sleeping Beauty. I needed to escape, if only for a little while.

Some girls wanted to dance as Clara in the Nutcracker, some wanted the lead in Don Quixote, most wanted to be Odette in Swan Lake, but not me. My dream role has always been in Sleeping Beauty. It's a very underrated ballet. While the story line isn't as suited for dance as the others, the variations in and of themselves are very challenging and beautiful.

This was going to be my audition for the Finals. I was allowed up to two and a half minutes and I was going to use every second. After an exhausting session where I felt like little progress had been made thanks to my overflowing mind, I made my way back to Gryffindor tower. One long, scalding hot shower later, I was curled up by the fire, one of Charlie's sweaters on and using a contraption my step-father had made for me so that I could stretch the arch of my foot. It was quite painful.

"Hey gorgeous-what in the hell are you doing?" Charlie stopped short as he entered the common room, sweaty and pink-cheeked from practice.

"I'm stretching the arch of my foot so that I can make it higher." My voice was constricted in pain.

He settled beside me and frowned. "Cadence, that's obviously hurting you. You should stop."

I shook my head. "You go until you can't go any longer, and then you do twenty more seconds."

"Well, I can't sit here any longer and watch you in pain, so I'm going to shower and I'll be back, all right love?" with another peck on the cheek, he disappeared up the steps.

I grimaced and switched feet. By the time he came back down the stairs, the arch-stretcher was back in my dormitory and my feet were immersed in buckets of ice water.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cringe," Charlie said with a sigh as he leaned over the back of the couch. "Just when I think you can't get any crazier or dedicated, you do something like this."

Shaking my feet out for a few moments, I turned around to look at him. "Charlie, I need to talk to you."

"You're not breaking up with me are you Cadence?" he joked as he hopped over the couch and sat down.

I smiled. "No, that's not it. It's about dance…and Winter Break."

Charlie's grin faded. "You're not going somewhere, are you?"

He just made this infinitely harder to say. "Last spring, I went to Belgium to audition for a competition called the Youth America Grand Prix. It's the world's largest and most prestigious ballet competition. 5,000 people entered. 1,000 were selected to continue on in the competition in the semi-finals, which happened in August. I got a letter in the mail today that announced that I've made it to the finals, in America."

"Cadence, that's fantastic! I'm so proud of you!" Charlie exclaimed, kissing me on the lips. "That explains why you were absent from classes for a week as well."

I bit my lower lip. "Yeah…and thanks Char," I murmured with a smile. "The thing is, it takes place from December 26th to January 9th. And since I live out of the country, I'll be leaving on the 23rd to get myself settled in."

He let out a long breath and leaned back, lost in thought. "What happens if you win this competition?"

"Oh Charlie it's life changing," I gushed. "There are job contracts to be won, scholarships up to nearly 30,000 pounds, past winners have gone on to be principal dancers –the best ones- of companies, and have such successful careers."

Charlie gently pulled my legs into his lap and began to massage my feet. I hissed in relief. "Well, if it's that important, I'd be hard-pressed to be upset about you leaving. Besides, it's only for two weeks. Tell you what? Sometime over Easter break you can come over for dinner and meet my family."

"You are perfect," I said as I leaned over to give him a thorough kiss. "Seriously. You're the greatest."

He smirked and began to knead the bottoms of my feet. "Tell me something I don't know sweetheart. Now, onto more pressing issues, why are your toes all taped up?"

I grinned wickedly and peeled back the tape. "Blisters, see? Aren't they totally yummy?"

"Oh Merlin that's horrid! Get these freak shows off of me," Charlie grimaced, pulling his hands back from my feet. Blood and pus oozed out of the popped blisters, while some others just pulsed angrily. Half of my toenails were black from where they had been bruised, and some had blood embedded in them from when I had forgotten to trim them and then gone up on my toes.

"See why I always wear socks?" I wiggled my nasty feet in his face before dipping them back into the ice buckets.

His face was priceless. "Eurgh, why do you dance if you have to deal with all of this shite?"

I paused for a moment, trying to think of how to phrase it. "When I dance, I'm not just moving. I see colors. I can hear the movements. When I'm performing, it's such a rush. I also love the pressure that slams you when you're trying to be perfect. Plus, you know, the glittery tutus aren't bad either," I grinned, resting my head on his shoulder.

"So even though you have to stick your bleeding, aching feet in death contraptions and ice baths, and you have to spend holidays away from your family, you still love it? That's dedication if I ever saw it." Charlie absentmindedly pushed some hair back away from my face.

I used my wand to turn the water to a scalding temperature. "15 years, 4 foot and knee injuries, and 27 pairs of toe shoes later, it's still the only thing I ever picture in my future."

"Well…what about me? Do you picture me in your future now?" One thing I liked about Charlie was how unafraid he was to ask these sorts of questions.

He could still make me blush horrifically. "I do believe that you're penciled in for at least a bit in the future," I joked.

"Oi you!" he said, whacking me with a pillow. Of course I whacked him back, and soon it was an all-out war. Sometimes, I truly enjoy my life.

The next morning at breakfast, I was greeted not by an owl with the most fantastic news since Celestina Warbeck had a vocal injury and couldn't release a new record for a year, but Abigail screeching at Anders like a banshee.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU TOOK OUR POM-POMS AND TRANSFIGURED THEM INTO DUNG-BOMBS! AND THEN THREW THEM AT SLYTHERINS! THOSE COST MONEY, ANDERS! YOU OWE THE ENTIRE SQUAD NEW ONES! HOW COULD YOU BE SO THICK?"

Anders' face turned bright red. "IT WAS JUST A JOKE, ABIGAIL! MCGONAGALL ALREADY FIXED THE BLOODY SPIRIT BALLS! EVERYTHING'S FINE! I DON'T KNOW WHEN YOU LOST YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR, BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN AROUND THE SAME TIME YOU BECAME A BLOODY BITCH!"

I sucked in my breath. Wow, us Gryffindors were crap at keeping our relationships together.

"If that's the way you really feel, then maybe we shouldn't be together," Abigail said quietly.

His expression turned cold. "Maybe we shouldn't. See you around."

I swear as he stormed out of the hall, Delia and Louise materialized out of thin air and ushered a wailing Abigail to the nearest bathroom.

"Cheers mate," Miles said tiredly as he settled across from Charlie, Amelie, Alexandria and I. "Maybe now we can get away from that crazed bimbo."

A few members of the Lionesses shot him dirty looks. "Nice, mate," Charlie said. "Make our entire cheer section hate us."

Miles held his hands up in defense. "Sorry mate, but you can't say you haven't gotten sick of her. And speaking of quidditch, Amelie I have a favor to ask."

Both Amelie and Alexandria eyed him warily. "What's up?" Amelie asked as she spooned porridge into her mouth.

"The Gryffindor-Slytherin match is coming up the first thing after the holidays, and Charlie got permission from McGonagall to hold a pep rally of sorts on the pitch the night before. I've been assigned to take care of the banner, because apparently at pep rallies you have banners. I was wondering if you'd like to extend your artistic prowess to the project," Miles said smoothly.

Without another word, Alexandria got up and left the hall.

Amelie sighed. "Sure, I'd love to. Let's talk about it later though." And with that, Amelie left the hall too.

Merlin, please save me from what I'm sure is about to be an extremely complicated situation? Thanks in advance.


	14. Stronger

**This chapter is dedicated to all those who lost their lives in the school shooting in Newtown, CT, on Friday, December 14th. Rest in peace angels~**

* * *

**Stronger**

"So how are you doing Griffon? We haven't really talked lately." I casually opened a closet to see if there were any reckless teenagers inside.

The lanky male shrugged. "I'm all right. Could be better."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I sighed.

Griffon scoffed and looked at me like I was crazy. "Cadence, you just got accepted into a super prestigious Muggle competition that could change your life. What do you mean it could be better?"

"Well I mean, I've got a pseudo-lesbian best friend who I know is actually miserable but she won't admit to it, Miles keeps pestering me to play matchmaker so I can get them back together, and Charlie is…" I trailed off, blushing as I thought about Sunday night in his dormitory.

_His lips were hot against the skin of my neck, and his callused fingers grazed the exposed skin on my back. 'Mmm,' he moaned, stroking my thigh. His lips trailed from my collar bone to my ear, and he blew warm air into it._

_I sighed and arched into him, my fingernails tearing at the skin on his back. At this encouragement, Charlie began to massage my lips with his own eagerly. His tongue probed mine, first slowly, then faster and faster. My mind was in a haze, and my body was on fire._

_All of a sudden, we flipped, and I was on the bottom. One hand slowly crept up my leg, the feel of his calluses against my smooth skin creating goose bumps, and the other reached around for the clasp on my bra. _

"_Charlie, stop!" I gasped, sitting up. _

_He groaned and flopped back. "I'm sorry Cadence, I just really can't help myself when I'm around you."_

_As my breathing slowed, so did my heart rate. "I'm not ready, and you know that. Should we just not snog anymore? Because even the most innocent kiss always seems to turn into this…"_

"_No Cadence, I promise I'll be better. I'll really try. I'll be your –what's that Muggle term? Ah, I'll be your Prince Charming," Charlie said softly, gripping my hand. _

Griffon frowned. "Charlie's what?"

"You know…he wants to do the naughty niffler," I mumbled, blushing again.

"Ah, I see. That's potentially problematic. Are you a virgin?" he inquired bluntly.

I shook my head as we rounded a corner. "No but, this whole relationship is so new. I don't want to mess anything up. I don't know. Anyway, enough about me. How are things with you and Coralie?"

"They aren't," he stated bluntly. "It was great for the first week or so, but now it's like she's no longer interested. I think she really just wanted to date me to get back at Bartholomew."

I grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm so sorry Griff. That's horrible! But if it makes you feel any better, you're worth at least fifty of her. There are so many other girls at this school who would kiss your feet if you let them."

I had grown very fond of Griffon this year. We'd always been relatively friendly, as we'd had all of our classes together and had been prefects together since Fifth Year, but this year we had really become good mates. I wasn't afraid to talk about anything with him. Nothing was too touchy a subject, and he treated me like an equal.

"Thanks Cadence, that means a lot. Now, onto a new topic that's less depressing and less likely to make me drown my sorrows in the bathtub, Miles seems pretty desperate to win Amelie back. Thoughts from the best friend?" He turned to me, an eyebrow quirked in true Griffon fashion.

I pursed my lips as I contemplated how to respond. "Well, part of me wants them back together because I know he really made Ames happy, but I don't think she wants that. He said some pretty unforgivable things, and the whole money thing is a delicate issue with her. Not to mention Alexandria's in the picture now."

"Money's an issue with Miles too. I think that's really why it became a problem in the first place. His mum's a squib and his dad's a Muggle janitor. Family's very poor, never had much growing up. You know Anders bought him his broom for his birthday in third year, so he wouldn't have to ride around on the school brooms anymore?"

"No, I didn't know that…huh." I'd never given Miles' background much thought.

Griffon shrugged. "I mean, here's this gorgeous girl whose father owns the entire company that made his broomstick, and then here's Miles, who grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with two siblings and has never really had anything nice to his name before. He's here on scholarship from Dumbledore, and he has to keep his grades up or else he's done. I think he was just really intimidated, and who could really blame him?"

We walked in silence for several minutes while I thought about this. "Why hasn't Miles told any of this to Amelie?"

"What guy wants to bare their insecurities, to a girl no less?" Griffon brought up a fair point.

"Yeah but…what about those love notes that Amelie found?" I turned to him with both brows raised.

He began chuckling. "Those? Those were from his neighbor. His twelve year old, Muggle, neighbor. She slips them under his apartment door and his mum passes them onto him here at school. She thinks they're hilarious."

I slapped a hand to my forehead. "Amelie and I have been right fools haven't we?"

Griffon nudged me. "Hey, you didn't know, and Miles wasn't offering up any information. I'd say that you should encourage the two to talk, and who knows? Maybe good things will happen."

"The ever-wise Griffon Baker. How do you know all of this about Miles?" Pursing my lips, I opened a classroom door to find two horny fourth-year Hufflepuffs. "All right, fun's over kiddies. I'm reporting you to Sprout, so be prepared for a detention on your Friday night."

They shot me nasty glares as they skulked out of the classroom.

"You're always so harsh," he said with a low whistle. "I wonder what would happen if we had the power to take away house points?"

I poked him. "Someone has to be the authority figure here Baker. And answer the question!"

We made our way back to the common room and Griffon put his hands in his pockets, scuffing at the floor with his shoes. "I don't know, I mean, out of all the guys in our dorm, I guess I'm the closest to him. Charlie and Anders have always been so much about the quidditch, and the parties, and the girls, and yeah Miles is into that stuff too, but he also likes his alone time. He's a lot like me in that way, and we've had a lot of nights where it's just been the two of us in the room. Plus I've visited him at home a few times."

We climbed through the portrait hole into the common room, and saw Amelie sitting by the fire painting on her easel.

"That's cute of you two," I teased, and bid him goodnight as I made my way over to my best friend. "Hey stranger, what are you doing up so late?"

It was then that I noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks. I glanced at the easel; it was an abstract painting done entirely in gray. "Amelie?"

Her bloodshot eyes flickered over to me as she dropped her paintbrush, smearing the carpet with gray paint. "Hey, Cadsy."

"What's wrong?" My heart sunk to my feet as I kneeled beside her.

"It's my father," Amelie sniffed. "The reason he cancelled the trip to Germany is…because he has a tumor. It's a mass in his brain, and it's swelling and it's really bad. He's dying." Her voice cracked and she dissolved into tears again, one paint-covered hand wiping at her wet cheeks.

Tears sprung to my own eyes at the sight of my broken best friend. I grabbed her in my arms as tightly as I could, and hastily tried to get the paint and tears off of her face.

"I can't believe this is happening to me again. When my mum died, I got through every day knowing that I still had my father. Now who do I have?" she sobbed.

I forced her to look at me. "You've got me!" I said fiercely. "Ames, I am always here for you. Always."

The two of us stayed wrapped up in the common room for hours. I dozed off eventually and when I woke up, Amelie was fast asleep, her head on my shoulder. Trying not to wake her, I levitated her upstairs to her bed and tucked her in.

I glanced at my own empty bed but suddenly realized that I did not want to be by myself. Creeping out of the room silently, I made my way to the seventh year boy's dorm. Gagging slightly at the smell, I carefully stepped over dark lumps of clothing and quidditch gear as I headed for the bed against the wall.

The hangings were already pulled aside and in the moonlight I could see his face, completely at peace as he slept. Gingerly I pushed some stray hairs out of his eyes and lifted up the covers so I could slide in beside him.

"Charlie?" I whispered, placing a hand on his arm.

He stirred and groaned. "Cadence? Whatimeizzit?"

"I don't know, late?" I murmured as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, opening his arms.

I settled myself in them and clutched at his night shirt. "Just-don't ever leave, okay?"

"Cadence," he chuckled. "What's gotten into you?"

Nestling my cheek against his, I stared up at the ceiling. "Amelie's father's sick."

Charlie swore. "Is he going to be okay?"

"No," I said, my voice cracking. Tears were seeping out of my eyes again. "How could this happen to her again Charlie? She's such a good person. I don't know how she'll make it through this. I don't know what to do. I have to be strong for her but…I don't know how."

He grabbed my left hand, took off his Gryffindor ring, and slid it onto my index finger. "All you have to do is look down inside of yourself. You are so ridiculously strong. Obviously you did something right when her mother passed on, because she's happy, healthy, and still full of love. Just do what you did back in third year. It'll be okay love, I promise. And if you ever doubt that, now you have my ring for extra strength. Now try and get some sleep, yeah?" Charlie kissed my forehead and wriggled the two of us into a more comfortable position.

Pretty soon, his breathing slowed and deepened, and I knew he was asleep once more.

I, however, was wide awake. I toyed with his ring for a while, but all I could think about was the pain Amelie would feel when she woke up. How it would be inescapable, and there was nothing to be done about it. So I did the only thing that I knew would make me feel better. I slipped out of his arms, grabbed my pointe shoes, headed to my classroom, and danced.

I did my barre exercises, ran my audition solo, and tirelessly worked out the kinks in my variations for the Youth American Grand Prix. I did everything that came to mind, because I knew that if I stopped, my brain would start thinking about Amelie again.

The sun started to come up around six in the morning, and I decided to head down to the kitchens. Amelie wasn't going to want to go to the Great Hall, but she couldn't function in the morning without food. She was just stirring when I entered our dorm, and I mentally steeled myself for a breakdown.

"Hey Ames," I said softly as I sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"

Amelie propped herself up on her elbows. "I'm…better. I think."

Smiling, somewhat in surprise, I offered her the plate. "I brought you some toast and sausage."

"I'm not hungry," she mumbled, shoving it away.

I sighed. "Ames, you know you can't function without food in your stomach."

"I won't be able to function anyway." Amelie laid back and clutched the sheets tightly.

Control your tears Cadence. You're not the one with a right to be upset. "Come on love, just one piece of toast, for me?"

"Fine," she mumbled, snatching the toast and biting into it angrily. I left the rest of the plate there and changed into my uniform before going to her wardrobe and grabbing hers.

"Up and at 'em Ames, time to get dressed!" I managed as cheerily as I could. She pulled herself into a sitting position and I helped her change her shirt. "You're going to have to get out of bed, unless you want to go to McGonagall's class in your knickers."

Amelie scoffed. "I'm not going to class today."

I raised as brow. "You think I'm going to let you sit in this dorm all day and wallow, the only thing on your brain your father? No way, you're coming to class and you're going to get your mind off of things for a little while."

Something in her eyes shifted, so quickly that I was somewhat alarmed. "You know what? You're right!" Amelie leapt out of bed and shoved on her skirt and shoes. "Let's go eat breakfast."

I warily followed her down into the common room, grabbing both of our school bags on the way out the door. Anders, Griffon, Charlie, and Miles were all sitting on the couch, and as soon as Amelie stepped into the room they hopped up with pitiful expressions. I guess Charlie had filled them in.

"Don't bother," Amelie said, breezing past. We all stared after her for a moment, and then their gazes shifted to me.

"I don't know," I said, holding my hands up. "Let's just make sure she doesn't have a meltdown, yeah?"

When we got to the Great Hall, we saw Amelie sitting at the end of the table next to Hannah Smithe, the first year who those awful Ravenclaws had called 'Porky.'

I shrugged at the boys and settled down across from them. "Hey Ames, Hannah," I spoke cautiously.

Amelie nodded, dousing her pancakes in syrup and Hannah meekly waved hello while shoving her porridge around in her bowl.

Charlie and Griffon sat on either side of me, while Miles and Anders slid next to Amelie.

"So, Hannah, how's first year going?" I asked after a painful conversation between Charlie and Anders about quidditch ended.

She looked shocked that I was making an effort to include her. "Oh, it's all right I suppose. I really like my classes."

Charlie wrapped an arm around my waist. "Yeah? Even Potions with Snape?"

"Oh I love his class," she gushed, but then her mood changed. "Although it's just another reason I get picked on. I'm the only Hufflepuff that hates Herbology and loves Potions."

Was there any reason that Merlin wanted to punish this sweet girl? "Amelie here's the black sheep of Gryffindor too, she loves Potions more than pretty much anything," I joked.

We all laughed, a bit forcedly, but if Amelie was smiling, then so were the rest of us.

"Amelie? Could I talk to you for a moment?" a voice piped up from behind me.

Her eyes clouded with darkness. "Go away Alexandria."

"I don't understand why you're doing this! You have no heart! What kind of person-" She was cut off by Miles, who jumped over the table, grabbed her elbow, and led her out of the hall, speaking quickly and furiously.

When I looked at my best friend, trying to gauge her reaction, she simply shrugged. "Dumped her last night before I found out. OH! By the way Cadsy, this came for you yesterday when you were on your rounds. Sorry I forgot," Amelie said as she rummaged through her bag, pulling out a letter.

"Er, don't worry about it Ames, of course don't worry about it…" I murmured, accepting the letter and opening it.

_Cadence,_

_This letter came to you from one of your American friends! Obviously he doesn't know where you really go to school, so I took the liberty of sending it to you. By the way, would it absolutely torture you to write to your old mum every once in a while? I've had a surprising lack of details about the crazy things that you and Amelie get up to. Humor me and help me relive my teenage years? _

_Xoxo,_

_Mum_

My stomach pretzeled as I opened the second letter. There was only one person I'd given my home address to when I was in America.

_Chubs!_

_Bet you're surprised I'm writing to you huh? I just wanted to know if you made it to the finals for the YAGP? I did! Isn't that totally stellar? Savannah made it too, Blackwell's so happy that two of her students made it she practically cried. Well, if this reaches you, hope to see you in New York. I'll be sure to keep your bed warm while we're there._

_-The best you ever had (Collin)_

"Cadence?" Charlie was staring at me with concern, and I realized that I was shaking all over.

I promptly crammed the letter into the goblet of pumpkin juice and stood up. "Who's ready for class?"

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone, I'm sorry this chapter's so short, but I really struggled to get through it. It was talking about a very sad topic, and due to Friday's tragedy with Sandy Hook Elementary School, I've had a hard time doing much of anything. I live very close to Newtown, and I used to babysit for a little girl named Caroline Previdi, who lost her life in the shooting on Friday. If you could all just keep her and her family, as well as all the other victims, in your thoughts, it would be so appreciated. **


	15. First Time

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Enjoy!**

* * *

**First Time**

"Again Ames?" I sighed as I stepped into a dormitory full of smoke and used my hand to waft it away from my face.

My best friend was in a steady downward spiral. I had been chasing after her for two weeks, tossing her pixie dust down the toilets, pouring her alcohol down the sink, burning all of her Muggle cigarettes. She had been skipping classes, slipping away from me when my back was turned. She had also stopped doing homework assignments, instead opting to hang out in the dungeons during all hours of the day.

Alexandria and Amelie weren't "officially" dating again, but they constantly together. Every time Amelie came back with more pixie dust or booze, it was when she came back from hanging out in the dungeons with a fair-haired Slytherin.

"JusslemmeloneCads," Amelie slurred, taking a large gulp from the bottle of firewhiskey. Oh, great, she was drinking _and_ smoking. Double the fun!

I tried to swipe the bottle from her but she lurched away and took another sip, stumbling around.

"Stop trynasssave me. Mm fine." And with that, she heaved all over the floor.

Trying to keep calm, I used my wand to get rid of her sick. "All right Ames, let's get you into bed." Nearly all of my patience had been tested during the past fortnight.

After getting rid of the drugs, I helped my best friend into bed, where she promptly passed out with a loud snore. I unlaced her shoes and set them neatly on the floor next to a bin for her sick and her Hang-over potion. This had become a drill as of late.

"Eurgh, it smells like a strip club in here." And now Abigail was here. It was a party now!

Having had enough, I turned on her. "If you don't like it Abigail, you can leave. Or better yet just cast a Bubble-head charm around your pretty little face," I sneered, and stormed out of the room. It was nearly midnight, and the common room was empty, save for a very sad teenage boy and a group of feverish fifth years.

"How's she doing?" Miles asked as I made my way over to him.

"The same," I replied, sitting Indian style on the couch.

He blew out a breath. "What are we going to do with her?"

As I looked down, at a loss for what to say, I spotted Charlie's ring. I brought it to my lips briefly. "We…are going to get in contact with her father."

Miles' eyes shot over to mine. "Is that such a good idea? I mean, with his condition? Do you think he can handle it?"

"Well, if there's anything Mr. Adams is, it's strong. Where do you think Amelie gets it from? But he needs to know how his daughter is doing, _what _she's doing, and he's the only person who can control her at this point." I struggled to keep the tears out of my eyes as I thought about the man who had been a father-figure to me all these years. Having been estranged from my own father for the majority of my life, I had often turned to Mr. Adams when I needed someone to look out for me.

My mother was obviously there for me, but she got very emotional, and sometimes, I just needed a rock. Someone strong enough for the both of us. I could floo to Amelie's house whenever I needed, and he would be there for me. No matter how upset I was, though, it was nothing compared to what Amelie was going through.

"Miles?"

"Hm?"

"Why do bad things happen to good people?" My voice was as shaky as my hands.

He wrapped an arm around me and I fell into him. "I don't know Cadence, I really don't know."

"It's just…think about it," I said softly. "Tragedy happens every day, whether it be within a family, a community, or an entire country. People die every day, some peacefully, others murdered in cold blood. Some people are just taken away so quickly, so unexpectedly…

"But this is worse. Mr. Adams has 6 months to live, and that's just _torture_. Will he make it to Amelie's graduation? Or will he be too sick to move, trapped in a hospital bed? I don't understand why things like this happen." At this point, my voice had turned to a whisper, and tears were dripping into my lap.

"We can get past this Cadence! We can fight this! So can Amelie! Her father raised a strong-willed daughter, but right now she's taking the easy way out. Think about Voldemort, in the 70s. He was so strong and powerful, feared by everyone. But, in 1981, he met his downfall, from a baby no less. And now look at the Wizarding community! I mean, we just got a new Minister for Magic, and the ministry's stronger than ever! Fudge is doing a pretty damn good job," Miles said eagerly, his dark eyes alight with hope.

I snorted, choosing to ignore his hurt expression. "You're too naïve Miles. Voldemort's not gone for good, and you're too smart not to know that. He could come back at any time, and we would be just as vulnerable as we were back then. Fudge is good with the people, keeping them calm, but I bet when he's truly tested with a threat to our safety, he'd crack under the pressure. As for Amelie…she can't fight this, not without her father. And considering the fact that he's dying, I'm pretty sure we're going to lose her too," I finished, voice cracking.

"Who turned you into such a cynic?" Miles asked after a beat.

I laughed mirthlessly. "Myself."

"You can't be like this and try to fix Amelie. You just can't Cadence. I need you to believe that we can fix this, and Amelie does too," he spoke softly.

The two of us stared into the fire for a while.

"You're right," I said finally. "Tomorrow, we owl her father. Then, we smile and act like it will all be okay."

Miles gave me a cheesy grin and I laughed.

"See?" I chuckled. "We're golden already."

When I awoke the next morning, Amelie was gone from the dormitory, although that was typical nowadays. She would smoke and drink into the wee hours of the morning with Alexandria and her knitting club (note sarcasm). I prepared for my day the usual way, cleaning up Amelie's mess and bringing her satchel with me to class, just in case she decided to show up. Today, she did. Just not to the first one, or the second one, or even the third.

"You owled my father?!" Amelie burst into the Charms classroom, chest heaving. She stank of cigarettes and alcohol.

Flitwick practically got blasted backwards from the force of the door swinging open, and it would have been funny had my best friend not completely lost her mind.

Alarmed, I got up from my seat and walked towards her, trying to placate her. "Amelie, now is not the time. I just did what I thought was best for you."

"What was best for me?" Amelie cackled. "My mother's dead, my father's dying, my step-mother's trying to steal all our money, and you saw fit to bother my father in the hospital? How rich of you Cadence."

She spoke icily, and her voice was so devoid of emotion that it made me cringe. "Who else could control you Amelie? You know he wouldn't want to see you like this. It will make him so sad if you destroy yourself, and you know that," I said softly. The entire class was staring at us, and Flitwick was wringing his hands, unsure of what to do.

"This is all coming from Perfect Prefect Cadence, who's got her shite together all the time! Perfect grades, perfect boyfriend, is at every class five minutes early with her homework done, competing for a chance at a perfect future…easy for you to say Cadence Bloody Perfect Weaver! How about you keep your nosy, whore mouth shut and stay out of my business!" Amelie shouted, before exiting in the same manner that she entered. The door slammed shut and there was utter silence while I tried to gather my dignity.

That was day one. On day three, I found her passed out over a toilet on the third floor on my rounds, an empty bottle of whiskey beside her. Day six, she was shouting at everything that walked by, angry with the world. Day seven, she was sobbing in her bed.

"Cadence?" she asked after a while, her voice hoarse. I had been sitting there with her patiently while she cried.

"Yes?"

"Tell me it will be okay," she whispered, putting her head in my lap.

My heart constricted as I held her. "It will be okay Ames. Everything will be okay."

Day eight, she was seated next to me in Potions. I partnered with her to make our Draught of Living Death, mostly to ensure that she didn't try to ingest any.

"Miss Adams, a word," Snape droned as the bell rang.

As I waited outside of the open door, I casually eavesdropped on the conversation. "Oh don't look at me like that Charlie, there's a reason you're skulking by the door too." I honed my hearing to catch the conversation.

"I have recently become aware of some issues that pertain to your life. While I acknowledge the upset, I find it inexcusable that you missed our session last Thursday. If you're going to be taken seriously by the commissioner of the board, you need to become disciplined Miss Adams." Snape's voice, normally void of emotion, had an angry undertone.

"I know Sir, I'm very apologetic. I lost my way for a while, but I'm back on track, I swear. I'll do whatever it takes to get a job at this company, and I won't miss another session, I promise!" Amelie pleaded.

There was a slight pause. "My office, this Thursday, 8pm. Do not be late."

"Oh thank you Sir! I won't let you down!" Amelie cried jubilantly as she headed out the door.

I took in her smiling face as she exited. "So I take it that went well?" I asked innocently.

Charlie shot me a look and I hid my smile as Amelie happily jabbered away about how well her potions were coming along.

Well Merlin, it looks like I managed to fix that mostly on my own!

"You can say whatever you want Cadence, I'm not going!" Amelie adamantly stated, tossing her quill down on her desk.

"Oh come on Ames, you can't punish yourself forever. You already bought the robes!" I had been trying to convince her to go to the Winter Formal that I, along with the other prefects, had worked tirelessly on for months.

She sniffed. "You expect me to party it up while my father's strapped to a bed in St. Mungo's?"

Sighing, I moved to stand by her. "Ames, if you don't go, George Browning is going to get the solo, _your_ solo! And honestly, your father wants you to be happy. In fact, that's all he wants!"

"I'll just feel so guilty if I go… Why should I be drinking and dancing and laughing when he can't do any of those things?" Amelie spoke quietly, toying with her quill.

I wrapped my arms around her. "Ames, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You know sending your dad a photo of you in your robes smiling would mean the world to him! He wants you to be happy, more than anything. And besides, you were born to sing this solo."

Amelie chewed her lip. "Well, I guess I can't let Flitwick down…and I certainly can't let that stick in the mud muck up my song. All right, I'll go. But-" she yelled over my whoop of victory. "I reserve the right to leave as soon as I'm done singing."

"Deal," I said immediately, crossing my fingers over my heart.

We were silent for a moment, returning to our homework. I just finished my Defense assignment when Amelie brought up the one thing I had refused to talk about for the past week.

"So, Charlie's birthday's on Thursday," she said coyly. "Know what you're giving him?"

Nervously, I put away my school things and began picking up spare socks from the floor, trying to keep my hands busy. "Nope, er, no clue."

Amelie cackled. "You're such a liar Cadsy! I've snooped through your things, and I haven't found any boy's clothing or sappy love poems or even candy. What are you giving him, and where do you have it hidden?"

"Look, I can't tell you now. I promise I'll tell you later, all right?" My stomach was twisted into knots as I thought about my gift for him.

"Fine," she said as she held her hands up in defense. "But if it's something totally crappy, don't blame me, because I was just going to offer my second opinion."

I anxiously dropped my bundle of socks and clambered to pick it up. "I'm going to go rehearse."

"See you weirdo."

Oh Merlin.

"Cadence?"

I gulped as Charlie stepped into the dimly lit dormitory. "Hey, Charlie."

He walked over to where I was sitting on his bed. "Miles told me you wanted to meet me up here."

"Yeah," I said, standing up. "I wanted to give you your birthday present."

Charlie gave a slight grin. "Well, what's my gift?"

I undid the belt around my robe and it fell away to reveal my dark blue lingerie. "Me."

He stood still for an agonizing ten seconds, while I bared every insecurity that had kept me from eating a single thing for three days. "Are you-are you sure?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I'm not-I'm not a virgin."

"Neither am I," Charlie mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. I nodded again. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, Cadence."

We stood there for a few seconds while I contemplated his words. "Are you going to come get your present or not?"

His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and he gulped. "You really want me to?"

I dropped my chin in a nod, and then he was moving with the speed and agility of a seeker, crushing my lips with his. His hands roamed over my body, searing my skin with the heat of his fingertips, and I rolled my head backwards in pleasure as his lips attacked my collar bone.

Charlie pushed the robe away and it fell to the ground as he lifted me and placed me gently on his bed. "You're so beautiful Cadence Weaver," he mumbled against my skin, running his hands from my shoulders down to my hips. As he rubbed gentle circles over my stomach, I sighed and tugged on his belt loops, pulling Charlie's full weight on top of mine.

We kissed for a long time, and I allowed my mind to grow hazy from the warmth of his lips as I played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

Charlie pulled back for a quick moment to remove his shirt, and then he was on top of me once more. His hand teasingly made its way down my chest and stomach to my pelvis. He stretched out a finger and snapped the material of my underwear, and I shivered in reaction.

"Oh, Cadence," he mumbled into my stomach, sliding his fingers inside of me. Charlie groaned at my wetness and I bit my lip so hard I drew blood.

Eventually my knickers came off and he was kissing me down there, his mouth making my eyes roll to the back of my head.

"Charlie," I groaned, and I think he nearly lost it right there, because within a matter of seconds, all remaining clothes were shed, and his bare skin was pressed flush against mine. I whimpered at the contact and arched into him as he slid inside of me slowly but with certainty.

I lost track of time and how many times I moaned his name, but eventually, with a kiss on the lips, we finished together. As we lay there panting, Charlie curled me into his arms.

"Not to spoil this completely perfect moment but…did you use the spell?" he asked, absentmindedly stroking the bare skin of my back.

"Yeah, before I came up here," I replied, nestling closer to him.

Charlie planted a kiss on my shoulder. "I uh, really liked my present."

I burst into laughter and Charlie soon followed, and the two of us just rolled around giggling like school children.

"Can we just stay up here all day? I really don't feel like going to class today," he mumbled into my neck, teasingly rubbing his lips against it.

A Charlie-induced shiver ran down my spine and I felt him smirk. "Anything for the birthday boy."

"You're amazing Cadence." His voice was so sincere that I teared up.

Not trusting my voice, I stayed silent. When his deep breathing became evident, I turned around to discover he had fallen asleep.

"Happy birthday Char," I whispered, placing a gentle kiss onto his forehead. Then, I burrowed into his arms and shut my eyes. I didn't have to dream about him, because he was right here.


	16. A Chapter Involving Lots of Yelling

**A Chapter Involving Lots of Yelling**

"Cadsy! Where were you and Charlie during classes today?" Amelie asked as I reentered my dormitory.

Abigail turned around from her desk where she was applying a face mask. "Oh please, it's so obvious. Her and Charlie both are _conveniently _absent from classes, all day? On his birthday? I think someone had a little birthday shag," she said smugly.

I blushed bright red and walked into the bathroom as quickly as I could.

"WHAT?!" Abigail and Amelie shrieked simultaneously.

"I was joking!" Abigail cried, and then the door knob was being jimmied.

Amelie banged on the door. "Cadsy, come out of there right bloody now! We have much to discuss!"

I stared at myself in the mirror. I didn't look any different. Then again, I hadn't looked different when I first slept with Collin either. That didn't, however, stop the other girls from calling me a "hoebag," which I was assuming was American slang for whore.

"_The only thing worse than a fat ballerina is a fat ballerina who's also slutty," Savannah said with a smirk as she swept past me in the changing room. _

_I tried to ignore her, but my hands were shaking so badly I couldn't tie my toe shoes. _

"_She totally slept with Collin last night, I saw her crawling back to her bed after curfew," Catherine spoke loudly, as though I weren't there. The other girls tittered and stared down at me as though I were the dirt on the bottom of their shoes. _

_Determined not to let them get the best of me, I grabbed my pointe shoes and made to leave._

"_Aww," Savannah pouted. "Did we get wittle Cadence upset? 'I'm Cadence and I'm so innocent and British!'" she mocked in a baby voice. "Well let's get something straight, shall we? _

"_You think you can take and do whatever you want, but that's not the case. Collin is mine, so you better watch out, bitch." Her tone had gone from patronizing to nasty in a split second, and I stumbled backwards as she slammed into me on her way into the studio. I stood there, numb, as the others followed, one by one knocking into me. _

_What on Earth had I ever done to any of them?_

"Cadence! Open the door!"

Amelie's shout brought me out of my reverie, and I walked back into the room. They immediately pounced.

"How was it?"

"Did it hurt?"

"Was he good?" Amelie asked with a wiggle of her brows. At this, I smacked her arm, and Abigail became very interested in her nails.

I sighed and fell back onto my bed. "It was…magical. And no, it didn't hurt. It wasn't my first time."

Abigail's mouth fell open. "Cadence Weaver is secretly a sexpot? I can't handle this information right now," she said, holding a hand to her forehead.

"I only did it with one other guy, and no, you don't know him," I responded before she could ask. My cheeks were lobster red.

Amelie squealed and leapt onto my bed, nearly causing me to tumble to the ground. "So, like I already asked, was he good?"

I was honestly surprised that my cheeks hadn't combusted into a giant fireball. "Yes he was very good…delicate but, but also masculine and strong, and powerful…" I clamped my mouth shut as I saw the look on Abigail's face.

"Abigail you look like you just swallowed a lemon," Amelie stated, following my gaze.

She shrugged and nonchalantly flipped her hair back. "Just listening to Miss Self Righteous Prefect talk about sex is a little disconcerting."

I snorted. "Wow, good vocabulary Abigail, I didn't know it expanded past 'mascara' and 'V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!'" I said sarcastically, clapping my hands together like a cheerleader.

All of a sudden Amelie gasped. "Wait a minute…you dated Charlie in 4th year!"

I felt my stomach drop abruptly, and Abigail's eyes widened.

"Oh look at the time, I really have to be at the…thing…" she trailed off, trying to make a run for it.

"Did you and Charlie have sex when you dated?" At Amelie's question, Abigail froze, and I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths.

"That's…none of your concern," Abigail squeaked, and I made a strangled noise. When Amelie threateningly toyed with her wand, she caved. "Okay, yes."

Immediately coming to my aid, Amelie narrowed her eyes. "You really are a skank, Abigail."

Remembering how I'd felt this entire summer, I laid a hand on her arm. "Amelie, it's okay. Leave it alone."

"I'm not a skank, he was my boyfriend!" Abigail spluttered indignantly.

"She's right Ames, they dated for what was it, like four months?" I tried to play peace-keeper.

Abigail sniffed. "Three and a half."

"Well, there you go. Charlie and I have only been dating for…for…OH MY GOD!" I yelped, suddenly feeling very sick.

In alarm, Amelie whipped around to face me. "What, what is it?"

"Charlie and I aren't even dating. He never asked me," I said faintly, feeling very much like I was going to throw up. We weren't official, but I had thrown myself at him, offered myself like a prostitute at his service… _I _was the skank!

Abigail burst into laughter. "Well, well, well, look how the tables have turned! I'm going to leave while I still can, I'd rather not stick around for this pathetic purity freak out. Later losers."

I sat, shell-shocked, scrambling to remember a point in time where Charlie asked me to be his girlfriend. The only problem was, I couldn't recall a single moment.

"Amelie…I literally dropped my robe in front of him, like I was in some kind of _porno,_ and we're not even dating! I'm a, I'm a-"

"Don't say it Cadence," Amelie warned, cutting me off. "You are not! He may not have asked you, but the two of you might as well be dating. Since this term started, I haven't even seen Charlie so much as look at another girl. He thinks you're the 'bees knees,' the 'bomb diggity,' 'the best thing since sliced bread,'"

This time I cut her off. "Okay I get the picture Amelie, but that doesn't change the fact that I just slept with someone who I wasn't even dating. What the bloody hell is wrong with me?" I whispered.

She sighed and wrapped an arm around me. "Cadsy, so what? Were you dating that American boy when you, you know, did the deed?"

"For the most part…" I trailed off, trying to squelch the memories that were surfacing in my mind.

Amelie's brow furrowed. "Er, what exactly does that mean?"

My effort to maintain control over my memories failed, and I explained in a shaky voice. "Well, we started dating a week into the program. And then, after a month, we made love. And we were happy for a little while. But once it got around that we were dating, the others got nasty. So, he said we needed to 'take a break,' although we never really broke up. And he said that doing it on a break didn't count…"

"Sorry for being insensitive here, but then are you two still technically dating?"

"Not a chance. The last day of the program he all but told me to shove it," I scoffed, but my angry façade quickly faded as my eyes filled with tears. I refused to let them fall, as I'd shed enough tears over this pathetic excuse for a human being…who I was going to be seeing at the Youth American Grand Prix in two weeks.

Amelie drew in a breath. "Well then, the only clear solution I can see to this whole mess is for you to go talk to Charlie. Go on, I promise it will fix everything."

I gave her an incredulous look as she hauled me to my feet, but obediently made the journey back over to the room where I gave myself to Charlie, trying not to psych myself out.

I knocked twice and opened the door announcing my presence. "Charlie? Are you in here? I really need to talk to- MERLIN!"

Anders stood before me in the nude, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Cadence? What's the matter?" Charlie entered behind me, freezing in shock. "What the hell is going on here?"

The, dare I say it, well-endowed chaser hastily grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist before sprinting back into the loo. "NOTHING CHARLIE PLEASE DON'T KILL ME I LIKE LIVING!"

I turned around, flustered but ready to explain, only to see that he was doubled over laughing. "You're laughing? Really Char?"

"I'm-sorry," he gasped, attempting to catch his breath. "But that-was ruddy-hilarious!"

"Hilarious? I'm scarred for life! My poor eyes will never be the same! That can't be unseen!" I moaned and clutched my forehead.

Charlie stilled his laughter, but the smile was still etched on his face as he hugged me. "Cadence, it's okay, calm down. I think we've already established that wasn't that the first male you've seen naked," he said lowly, drawing me into a slow kiss.

With all of my restraint and will power, I pulled away. "Actually, that's what I need to talk to you about."

He frowned, but led the two of us over to his (messy) bed. "Anders?" he called.

"On it." His friend reappeared, now fully clothed, and made a beeline for the door.

"Thanks mate!" Charlie shouted after him. "All right, what's on your mind?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I looked at him and tried again, but couldn't make a single sound.

Charlie narrowed his eyes. "Does this have to do with earlier? Are you all right? Did we rush things? I knew we should have waited, oh Merlin Cadence if I've mucked this up…"

"Yes, it's about that, but no, you haven't mucked anything up. I have." I found my voice, and it was surprisingly devoid of emotion.

"What are you talking about?" He now sounded worried, which made me even more nervous.

Clutching the sheets for support and avoiding his eyes, I blurted out "We're not even dating and I'm a prostitute basically and you slept with Abigail and she's so…experienced and yeah so I'm probably going to go wallow in self-pity okay bye." I tried to stand and walk out, still not making eye contact, but he grabbed me.

"Cadence, slow down. You feel poorly about this because technically we're not dating?" At my nod, he sighed. "I kind of just assumed that we were, I mean, we spend all of our time together, I walk you to your classes, you're wearing my ring…"

I turned my head away from him. "You never assume anything with girls, Charlie! For Merlin's sake, I slept with you and we weren't even together! That's a huge ordeal for me and I feel very, very stupid."

A rough hand cupped my chin and forced me to look at him. Staring into those beautiful, regretful brown eyes made it feel like an icy fist was squeezing my heart. "I'm so sorry Cadence. I never meant to hurt you, and honestly it was just my own stupidity. I want to fix this, so please…will you _officially_ be my girlfriend?"

"I don't want you to ask me just because you feel badly now," I sniffed, dangerously aware of yet another set of tears pooling in my eyes. I really needed to get a hold on myself, I was acting like a Hufflepuff, with all these feelings.

He laughed, although it sounded entirely humorless. "Cadence, that's not why I'm asking you. If you can't figure out that I mean it after the past four hours we just spent making love to each other then honestly I have nothing else to say."

"I-you're right, of course you're right. I was just indulging in my dramatic side a bit too much, I'm sorry. Yes, I would love to be your 'official' girlfriend," I said with a smile.

"Good, now that's settled. Come here." Charlie reached out and gathered me into his lap in one swoop, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

As I rested my head against his chest and inhaled that familiar scent of pine and wood, I remember thinking that all in all, this day had turned out to be pretty fantastic.

The next morning was not so fantastic, as I came back from my dance rehearsal to find Anders and Abigail at each other's throats in the common room.

"ABIGAIL, I CAN SEE OR SNOG WHOMEVER I WANT! I BROKE UP WITH YOU, REMEMBER?"

The bleached midget laughed in his face. "REMEMBER? OF COURSE I BLOODY REMEMBER, YOU DID IT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GREAT HALL, COMPLETELY HUMILIATING ME!"

"ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF YOU! IT'S SICKENING!" Anders shouted, angrily running a hand through his muss of blonde hair.

"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S SICKENING? COMING ACROSS YOU OUTSIDE THE PORTRAIT WHOLE LAST NIGHT PLAYING TONSIL HOCKEY WITH HANNAH COHEN FOR THE BLOODY WORLD TO SEE!"

What? I had thought the girl had better taste. Eurgh.

Anders burst into laughter in disbelief. "Abigail, I. DUMPED. YOU. That means I can do whatever I please! You don't control me anymore! Sorry if that offends you, but I moved on, and I suggest you do as well!"

"I HAVE MOVED ON!" she shouted. "I just haven't moved as fast as you! I mean, you're going through the sixth years, so what, now you're going on to fifth years? Or better yet, just get with Weaver and Adams, they're pretty easy I've heard!"

Amelie squeaked indignantly, and anger boiled in my stomach. It was entirely unnecessary that we had been brought into this.

"Well," I said calmly, walking over to where the pair stood. "I did see him naked last night."

Abigail's mouth dropped open and Griffon let out one of his nervous, high-pitched laughs. "What?" she asked lowly, a dangerous tone to her voice.

I grabbed Charlie's hand and headed for the portrait hole. "Consider us even now, Abby Darling."

Amelie, Griffon, and Miles eagerly followed us.

"You are all kinds of evil," Griffon said appreciatively.

I shrugged. "Don't I know it!"

We reached the Great Hall and we all headed towards the Gryffindor table, except for Griffon, who was standing in place.

"Griffon?" Amelie asked. "Aren't you coming?"

He shook his head. "Actually, Cadence just inspired me to do something."

Anders burst angrily into the Hall as Griffon strode confidently toward the Ravenclaw table. A few seconds later, Abigail came in, flanked by her gum-popping minions.

"What the hell is that kid doing?" Anders asked, joining our shell-shocked group.

I shook my head. "I don't think you want to know."

Griffon was now standing next to Coralie. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she rebuffed his attempt to speak to her. That was when he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him.

"I'm sick of this Coralie! When I asked you to go out with me, it was because I was so enamored with your charm and your wit and your beauty, and I was over the moon when you agreed! I was so happy, and stupidly, ridiculously blind. The truth of it all is that you, Coralie Samuels, are a cold-hearted bitch. Plain and simple. I know the only reason you agreed to date me is because you wanted to make Mr. Meathead jealous, Merlin knows why though, I mean look at him! His brains are in his biceps, and his biceps aren't even that big!

"Then, when he did get jealous, you didn't even have the decency to break up with me, you just ignored me and pretended I didn't exist! I am done Coralie. You're pathetic, and quite frankly, not worth the fuss." Griffon, panting heavily, turned on his heel and walked back over to us satisfactorily.

It was dead silent for a moment, but Griffon didn't notice. He simply sat down and began spreading jam over an English muffin. Then, slowly, applause rang out. I dare say it started with Professor Vector, whom Coralie always challenged and undermined in class. Guys began running up to Griffon to pat him on the back and congratulate him.

"What is happening to the world?" I shook my head in confusion as I shouldered my bag and settled across from the new Boy Wonder.

Miles grinned. "I'll tell you what's happening: my boy Griffon just became the hero for rejected gentlemen everywhere!"

Griffon blushed. "It's not really that big a deal, man," he mumbled.

"Not a big deal? You joking me Baker?" Anders cried, crumbs flying out of his mouth. Troll. "You just knocked the "ever-elusive" Coralie Samuels down like, ten pegs! You! Nerdy little Griffon! Amazing!"

Charlie and Miles simultaneously ruffled his hair, accidently knocking Griffon off the bench.

I snorted into my coffee. "Nice guys."

"Guess I don't know my own strength," Charlie smirked, flexing his arms.

Amelie pinched my cheeks. "Aww, Cadence is drooling."

"Am not!" I yelled, slapping her arm.

"Ow, bitch!" Amelie cried, slapping me back.

"Ow!" I slapped her again.

"Ouch, tosser!"

"Ow!"

"Ugh!"

"Ow, stop it!"

"You!"

We stopped as we noticed the majority of the table watching us. I caught Abigail's eye, and she immediately looked down into her cornflakes mournfully. She probably missed sitting with the group; ever since her and Anders had broken up, all she really had were the Lionesses, most of whom were much younger.

Wait a minute, why was I feeling sorry for her? Oh Merlin, why must you do this to me?

Charlie nudged me. "Earth to Cadence! Are you ready for Potions?"

I tried to settle the mass of guilt that I felt in my stomach. "Nope!" After one last glance at Abigail, I stood up and left the Hall.


	17. It's Not My Fault I'm Happy

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR! I also don't own the rights to the song It's Not My Fault I'm Happy by Passion Pit or Vogue by Madonna. Enjoy!**

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**It's Not My Fault I'm Happy**

I grinned happily as I nibbled at my salad. It was the day of the Winter Formal and we had all decided to grab an early lunch before we started getting ready. Well, the girls started getting ready; the boys were probably going to go roll around in the mud or something.

I was sitting in between Charlie and Anders, who was eating in between snogs with Hannah. Apparently they were "being casual."

"How long do you think until they're back together?" Charlie whispered in my ear. I glanced across the table to where Miles and Amelie were drawing caricatures of the professors.

I chewed my lip as I thought. They certainly were in good spirits, maybe tonight. "I say tonight, at the dance."

Charlie scoffed under his breath. "Miles won't chance making a move too soon; I give it a week."

"I don't know, I thought they would've been together by now," Griffon said from Charlie's other side, joining the whispered conversation.

"Yeah," Annalisa Samuels added. She'd taken to hanging around Griffon lately. "I honestly thought she would've taken him back after he asked her to be his date."

Smugly, I slipped a sickle from my bag into Charlie's hand. "Care to bet on it Sweetheart?"

"Sure thing Lovebug," he replied through gritted teeth. I snickered, knowing he hated it when I used pet names.

Amelie looked up from her doodle of Flitwick. "What are you lot whispering about?"

Charlie coughed and looked away and Griffon hastily drew Annalisa into conversation about prefect duties. I must pencil in a time to make their voodoo dolls. Sods.

"Oh we were just, uh, discussing what scandals we think will happen tonight," I made up wildly. I hated lying, and I was terrible at it. Oh shite.

Luckily, she bought it. "I bet someone's going to spike the punch and McGonagall's going to get tipsy!"

"In your dreams Amelie." Miles ignored her glare. "Even after drinking alcohol I doubt McGonagall would allow herself to be wasted."

We all laughed because it was true, and our uproarious noise caught the attention of the hall. For once, I didn't care. I was absurdly happy right now. I was Charlie Weasley's girlfriend, and the glow had not yet worn off. Miles and Amelie were back on track, Griffon had found someone better than Coralie, so I wasn't constantly being criticized, and Abigail had been replaced by Hannah, whom I much preferred.

This was not to mention the fact that I would soon be travelling to New York, and I felt completely ready to blow everyone out of the water. Madame Blackwell had sent me one of her old tutus to wear for the competition and it was stunning. It was pure gold and fit me exactly right. I had even dyed my toe shoes gold to match the costume.

"Cads, you ready to go back?" Amelie brought me out of my joyous stupor and I nodded, seeing that her, Hannah, and Annalisa had already stood.

I pecked Charlie on the cheek and stood as well. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm ready for your waxing treatment." I shivered, remembering the time I'd been convinced to let her give me a bikini wax.

She gave a wolf-like grin. "Don't worry your pretty little head Cadence, I've gotten the house elves to bring us up some ice if it hurts too badly."

"Should I thank you now or later?" I asked dryly, looping arms with her and Annalisa as we fled from the Great Hall.

"All right, it's 12:45, and we promised to meet the boys promptly at 7 o'clock in the common room. That gives us about six hours to get ready," Hannah said, mapping out our allotted time in her mind.

I internally sighed, thinking about what I could instead be doing with my time. Practicing, running, reading, doing school work, being with Charlie… This whole formal dance thing was throwing a wrench into my routine, and it was making me a bit anxious.

When we reached our dormitory, where we had decided to get ready, I called dibs on the bath and soaked for a while. The jabbering of the girls from the other side of the door faded away as I leaned my head back and relaxed. This week had been absolutely crazed. I was now waking up at 5am every day so that I could dance and rehearse my pieces for about 3 hours. Then, I would go to breakfast, have coffee, go to classes, go to the library and do my work, go for a run, eat an apple or some lettuce, shower, curl up by the fire with Charlie, and go to sleep. Unless of course I had prefect duties, choir practice, or was helping Anders and Charlie with their school work.

There was a banging on the door. "Cadence? Are you ready for the exfoliation and waxing yet?"

"Yeah, sure," I sighed, climbing out of the tub and wrapping my robe around me. For the next hour I let Amelie attack me with pastes and lotions and scrubs. At the end of this, I was forced onto my bed so I could have all of my body hair waxed off. I sat, nursing my tender skin, while I watched Annalisa and Hannah go through the same torture.

"Hannah, you sound like a dying walrus." I caught the pillow she chucked at me and stuck my tongue out at her.

At one point Amelie brought out a bottle of champagne and we took a beauty break to drink it. Surprisingly, Annalisa drank most of it, and remained stone-faced.

Hannah observed her. "Do you ever get tipsy?"

Annalisa shrugged. "Maybe after three or four firewhiskeys."

"Shit," Amelie said, eyes wide. "I wish I wasn't a lightweight."

Annalisa turned to me. "Hey, I'm not the only one who can hold my liquor well. Cadence, if I recall, is a good time girl."

I pondered this. Though Amelie and I had never attended any of the Hogwarts or quidditch parties until this year, I supposed that I was relatively experienced with drinking and club-going. "Guilty as charged!" I declared.

"You guys, tonight is going to be so amazing." Hannah swooned and fell back against my bed.

I bit my lip. "Are you going to spend the night with Anders?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I've been thinking about it. It's just that it's barely been three weeks, and I've never done it before. I'm a little afraid."

We all squeezed onto the mattress and Annalisa gave Hannah a reassuring pat on the back. "There's nothing to be afraid of love, it barely hurts at all. Besides, Anders seems to fancy you quite a bit. He'll be really gentle."

I felt vaguely uncomfortable, and I could tell Amelie was feeling the same way. Hannah may only be a year below us, but we had taken her under our wing in our second year and showed her the ropes of the school. She would always be too young for this in our minds.

"I think you should wait." We all turned to Amelie, who had spoken.

"Really?" Hannah asked, looking doubtful.

I nodded my head emphatically. "Yes, definitely wait."

"You see Hannah, the more you know and care for a person, the more magical it will seem, and the better it will be. I regret my first time, and I don't want that to be you," Amelie said.

At this, it was my turn to look confused. "Ames, care to share with the class here?"

"I had sex with Miles about three weeks after we got here, right before we broke up. We'd been meeting up all summer, and once we were official I didn't see any reason to wait any longer. So…one night when Cadsy was on her prefect rounds and Abigail was off with Anders, Miles flew to the window and came in and…we shagged. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but after we broke up I just felt very hollow on the inside, and couldn't stop being disappointed in myself."

I was stunned. How had I been so absent from Amelie's life this term? I was such a shite excuse for a friend.

"Wow," Hannah breathed, blue eyes wide open. "So, if Anders asks, what do I tell him?"

"Just tell him it's not the right time yet. You're not comfortable with that level of intimacy, simple as that. I doubt he'll be upset, Anders just seems to be the kind of person who rolls with the punches. Everything will be fine," Amelie assured.

Suddenly I felt like I was in a twilight zone. Boys had really turned my life upside down. First, Collin all but destroyed me, taking my virginity, my sanity, and my self-esteem. Then, I got to school and found myself tangled with Charlie, who at the beginning was acting eerily similar to Collin. Amelie had secretly been seeing Miles while I was distracted with Collin, and now here we were, only three months later and entirely different people than last term.

Slightly dizzy from the champagne, I stood. "I'm going to go take a walk."

"Oh booo!" Hannah cried, slapping me on the bum. "So much for good time girl."

I managed a tiny laugh and smile as I made my way down to the common room and out into the hall. In the cool, quiet air I felt myself calming down. I frowned, unsure of why I was so anxious and disturbed.

Sometimes, I supposed, it felt like my life was just passing me by because I was too invested in ballet to notice anything else. I really had no idea about half of the things in Amelie's life. I'd missed her relationship with Miles, her fling with Alexandria, and she hadn't even felt like she could trust me enough to tell me that something so important and huge had happened to her.

That declares it: I, Cadence Jane Weaver, am a self-absorbed person. I literally could not get out of my own head. I was always focused on what I should be doing, what was happening to me, what I wanted, what I needed…I was missing things right in front of my own face.

I was about to turn the corner when I heard giggling and the sound of lips smacking together. Disgusted, I began to walk away, but stopped when I heard a familiar voice.

"We can't keep doing this."

"Of course we can. What's stopping us?"

There was a pause. "Hannah Cohen."

"Yeah but we're technically not dating, we both agreed on that. It's an open relationship." Oh Anders, how I want to hurt your face right now.

"Then why are we sneaking around?" Abigail demanded. I swear there was the sound of a foot stomping on the ground.

Anders shuffled around a bit. "I just figured that she would get upset if she knew about it. And besides, isn't it more exciting this way?"

"I suppose, but seriously Anders, we dated for almost two years! I don't want to be the other woman, while you go off gallivanting with Little Miss Innocent Doe Eyes. I deserve better than that."

"Abigail, I'm not having this discussion with you again. There were too many differences between us to ignore for any longer. And like it or not, Hannah's my date for tonight. So get used to it," Anders said, sounding frustrated. At the sound of his approaching footsteps, I dashed down the hall as silently as I could and ducked behind a tapestry.

I held my breath as his footsteps passed, and when I thought it was safe, I reentered the hallway.

"Weaver? What are you doing here?"

My heart skipped a beat as I turned to face Abigail. "Huh? Oh, I think I took a wrong turn from the passageway on the fifth floor…guess I ended up here."

She swiped away a tear. "Whatever," she spat, before turning on her heel and striding off.

Everyone was in grand spirits today.

_The mirror is not your enemy Cadence. Get it together._ I took a shaky breath as I opened my eyes. My makeup was gorgeous. I made sure to keep my focus on Amelie's handiwork to prevent a break down.

Silver eye shadow made up my lids, with just a hint of golden sparkles and a dash of purple, and my lashes were curled and coated expertly in mascara. My cheekbones were accented with just the right shade to make my skin look healthy and glowing instead of sickly and pale. Peach matte lipstick finished off the look.

My hair cascaded down my back in large, bouncy curls. The top half of it was brushed back and held in place with an old, silver clip that my mum had sent in the mail. A few spells had rid it of the tarnish and restored its beauty. I had simple diamond studs in my ear that had been lent to me by Amelie, and around my neck was the necklace that Charlie had presented to me when I made my way back to the common room two hours ago.

I smiled to myself as I fingered the delicate key, set on an exquisite silver chain. It was simple and plain, but breathtaking. And it matched my dress perfectly. He had to have been in cohorts with my best friend. _God _I was a shite person.

Amelie noticed my focus. "Brilliant, isn't it? Charlie asked me what sort of jewelry would go best with your dress, and all I told him was something silver. He did the rest on his own. Boy's got incredible taste! Now move out of the way you mirror hog."

She slid in two pearl earrings and stepped back to face me. "How do I look?"

"Ames…you look _so beautiful."_

I worked hard to keep the tears at bay. Amelie looked stunning, mature, elegant…her father would be so proud of the woman Amelie had become. Her hair was swept up into a French twist and decorated with a sprig of lilacs. Her neck was bare, but it worked with the neckline of her dress, which was one-shouldered.

The lavender dress tightened at the waist, where the material cut away, before falling elegantly to the ground. An intricate silver pattern weaved its way up from the waist where the material cut away and over her shoulder.

I gathered my friend in a hug, all other words stuck in my throat. Hannah and Annalisa crowded round and began 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over her, and she preened at the compliments. I declared that this night was all about making Amelie happy, because that grin on her face made me stupid with joy.

"Shall we take a picture?" Annalisa asked. "I stole this from Rachel, it was in her trunk," she snickered, grinning evilly.

We all burst into laughter and Annalisa set the timer. With the camera taking photos every two seconds, we were constantly posing. There was Vogue-ing, there was horrific face-making, there may have even been some inappropriate pelvic thrusting at one point.

"Now just take one of Cadence and I! I want to send it to my dad," Amelie requested, biting her lip happily and wrapping her arms around me.

I leaned over and planted my lips on her cheek. The flash went off but she didn't let go. We stayed in our embrace for a few seconds while Annalisa rushed to develop the photo.

"It won't be magical, because I haven't got the right solution, but here you go!" she chirped, handing it over to us.

I ran over to my desk and rummaged around for a piece of parchment. I hastily scrawled "We love you and miss you, get well soon!"

Excitedly, Amelie bounced over to the window. "Let me call my owl!"

Hannah and Annalisa looked at me inquisitively as Amelie put two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. Within a few minutes, Amelie's Snowy Owl, Prince Charmington, appeared at the window.

"How the hell did you train your owl to do that?" Annalisa asked in disbelief.

Ames shrugged. "Money."

I giggled and attached the photo and the parchment to Prince's leg. "Take this to Mr. Adams at St. Mungos."

After a moment, during which they were all adjusting themselves in the mirror, I pursed my lips and asked if we could go yet.

Amelie rolled her eyes. "Okay, I know you're eager to see how dashing Charlie looks all dressed up, but we've got to wait at least five minutes more so we can make our grand entrance into the common room. Come look at yourself in the mirror with us, you look like a loser standing alone!"

"No Ames, I really don't want to, I'm all right-"

She, of course, ignored my protests, and shoved me right in front of the mirror. Trying not to let my discomfort show, I grudgingly looked at myself. Thanks to a few handy spells from Annalisa, the bodice of the dress was tight against my skin, but not tight enough that it pudged out the skin beneath my armpits, per my request. The way the dress ruched at the hips actually made it look like I had a figure, and the rest of my disgusting body was hidden by the way it was draped. I felt better when I fastened the robes around my shoulders, covering up skin.

"Now we can go," Amelie said in smug satisfaction. The four of us secured our wands, either on our upper thighs or between our breasts, and opened the door. The moment we stepped onto the landing, the blast of excited chatter assaulted our ear drums.

"Perfect," Hannah said. "Practically everyone is down there." She linked arms with Annalisa and they eagerly went down the steps. I heard several audible gasps and I could just tell some jealous looks were being tossed their way.

Amelie squeezed my hand. "You ready Cadsy?"

"If you define sweaty palms and weak knees as ready, then yes," I replied. We hooked arms and made our way down to the common room, much slower than the other two. First our shoes stepped into the light, followed by our gowns, and finally, our faces.

Several flashes went off as people snapped photos and I dizzily searched for Charlie in the crowd. Miles stepped forward and stood in front of Amelie, extending a beautiful bouquet of silver roses. His Adams Apple bobbed while he tried to find the words.

"Amelie," he began lowly. "You are by far the most divine, resplendent woman in this room. I honestly cannot convey to you how beautiful you truly are."

Amelie blushed and took the roses shyly. "Thank you Miles, you're very sweet. You look positively handsome."

I smiled softly as I watched him take her hand, treating her like she was the most delicate and expensive gem in the world. All of a sudden, I felt a warm hand upon my shoulder.

"Charlie!" I gasped, whirling around. My words died on my lips as I drank him in. I couldn't get enough; he was such a gorgeous creature. Freshly shaved, hair brushed back but slightly messy, black tuxedo with a silver undershirt and a silver tie…

I hadn't realized I'd been reaching out for him until he took me into his arms.

"Oh Cadence, you have no idea how alluring you are," Charlie whispered, planting a deliberate kiss behind my right ear. "You are heart-stoppingly gorgeous. I don't know how I'm supposed to keep the other boys away from you. Perhaps I should attach a sign saying that you're mine…"

Taking a deep breath, I put a hand gently onto his chest and looked away, trying to regain control of myself. "Thank you so much for the necklace Char, it's perfect. I love it. And you look stunning."

He smirked. "I did good, didn't I? C'mon, tell me I did good," he goaded.

I prodded him in the stomach with my elbow. "If I tell you, your ego might suffocate the ickle firsties."

"Nah, they're tough, they can fight it." He wasn't giving up.

"All right!" I said exasperatedly. "You did wonderfully."

Charlie preened, much like Amelie had done earlier. "Knew it. And now I get to show off my date and revel in the envy of the entire male population."

"Oi, love birds!" Anders called. "Let's get a move on! You can shag later!"

My face burned as I stepped away from Charlie. Nearly the entire room was watching our exchange, which looked much more intimate than it really was thanks to our close proximity to one another.

"We're coming! Untwist your knickers Groff!" Charlie called, and several people jeered and chortled, taking the attention off of us. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Charlie extended an arm to me. "M'lady."

I curtsied goofily and wrapped my left arm around his right. "My _dorky _lord."

"Hey now!"

I giggled as we followed our friends out of the portrait hole. The night was about to begin.


	18. Don't Panic

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the wondrous JKR! Everything else you don't recognize is mine and therefore much less cool. I don't own the song in the title, Don't Panic by Coldplay, nor do I own the songs Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid, Green Green Grass of Home by Tom Jones, or Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Enjoy!**

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**Don't Panic**

"Cadsy! Just tell us what the Great Hall looks like for Merlin's sake!" Amelie demanded for the fifth time.

I grinned and shook my head. "We're almost there! Besides, why are you pestering me? Go pester Griffon or Annalisa, they worked on it too!"

Amelie pouted. "But they're not as fun to annoy."

Miles burst into laughter and wrapped his arm around Amelie's waist. "C'mon, if you're so impatient, let's walk a bit faster, yeah?"

The two of them sped off and I looked up at Charlie.

"You want to go after them don't you?" he asked knowingly.

I twisted my lips to the corner of my mouth. "Kind of…I want to see Ames' face!"

Charlie slapped me on the bum. "Then let's go!"

I trotted after Amelie and Miles, trying to dodge Charlie's ever-persistent hand. He was _such _a boy.

When we reached the Great Hall, the door was wide open and ethereal music was floating out into the Entrance Hall. Amelie's jaw was on the floor, her eyes the size of galleons.

"Cads, this is amazing! How on Earth did you lot manage?"

I shrugged, taking in the scene that the prefects had created. Annalisa and Rachel Stevenson, the Head Girl, had created a spell that would allow real snow to fall down from the ceiling, but was warm and disappeared instead of melting, so that the ground was miraculously clean. In one corner of the room, there was a small ice skating rink where students could take their chances with a pair of skates. The dance floor was translucent and underneath there was glittering snow, so it appeared that the students were dancing in it.

Fairies flittered around the ceiling, their warm, white lights the only light in the room, giving it a natural glow. People dressed to the nines were milling around a large buffet table, or were seated at one of the many round tables around the room. The tables I had done myself: the tabletops were all made of ice and had the four house mascots carved into them. A ball of fire that frequently changed colors hovered over the middle of it as the centerpiece, and twinkling Christmas bulbs dangled off the edge of each table.

"It's…magical," Hannah breathed, immediately grabbing Anders and dragging him over to a table to examine the fireballs.

"It's a winter wonderland," Annalisa said smugly, obviously pleased with her work.

Charlie, Amelie, and Miles looked at Annalisa, Griffon, and I.

"You guys did all this?" Amelie asked.

"Without any help from the professors?" Miles added dubiously.

Griffon smirked. "Of course we did! In case you haven't noticed, the seventh year prefects are rather," he huffed on his knuckles and rubbed them against his shoulder, "talented."

Charlie shoved him into the wall. "All right, there's no need to get cocky Boy Wonder."

"Let's go get a table!" Amelie cried, bouncing on her toes. The six of us found an 8-person table and settled down, knowing Anders and Hannah would join us eventually.

For a while I just sat, staring at all of my classmates. After seeing everyone in nothing but uniforms for years on end, it was a bit disconcerting to see so many people in expensive dresses and robes. Abigail showed up on the arm of George Browning, the 6th year who had lost tonight's solo to Amelie. Delia and Louise each had pimply 5th years following them around.

Tuning back into the conversation, I asked Ames what time she was supposed to sing her solo.

Amelie bit her lip. "Er, I think I perform after we do our first two numbers, at 8 o'clock."

"Oh right…I nearly forgot that the choir was singing tonight." My stomach churned at the thought of standing up in front of everyone, not to mention that in the very first song I had a two line solo. "What time is it now?"

The boys shrugged, and Hannah turned to her date. "Anders, do you have the time?"

Anders was staring harshly across the room, completely oblivious to the conversation taking place. I followed his gaze and saw Abigail laughing with George, her claws digging into his arm. There was a very sour taste in my mouth, and I kicked him under the table.

He jumped. "Huh, what?"

"Do you know what time it is?" I inquired as nicely as I could manage.

He lifted up his robes sleeve and peered at his watch. "It's uhh…7:35."

"Nice to know you can tell time," I muttered under my breath. Charlie, the only one who heard me, shot me a questioning look. I shook my head and instead began participating in the Would You Rather game that Griffon had started up.

"Amelie, would you rather be strip searched by Snape, or see Sprout strip?" Griffon asked with a smarmy grin on his face.

Everyone immediately started gagging and making disgusted faces.

Amelie closed her mouth. "You're sick Griff, absolutely sick!"

"I know," he declared proudly. "Now answer the question, or else you have to answer a Truth!"

"Eurgh…" Amelie's nose crinkled in disgust. "I guess I'd go with get strip searched by Snape. At least he wouldn't be naked."

Charlie mimed vomiting. "Aw Amelie, why'd you have to talk about Snape being naked?"

I giggled and rested my head upon his shoulder. For some reason tonight, I'd constantly been touching him, wanting to get as close as possible. Charlie smiled down at me, a little confused. I was not normally one for public affection, but I just felt so…so _happy _right now. It was a strange feeling. I couldn't remember the last time I'd really been cheerful.

After a few more moments, Dumbledore came up on stage, along with Rachel and Humphrey, the Head Boy and Girl. We were all formally welcomed to the dance and told to enjoy ourselves, and then Flitwick called the choir up on stage.

Charlie squeezed my hand, wishing me good luck, and I was dragged up to the stage by Amelie. She, unlike me, was thrilled to have everyone stare at her. She wasn't even nervous for her solo. My robes billowed out behind me and I heard a few gasps.

"It's the robes, Cadsy, everyone loves them." Amelie grinned at me happily.

I turned around on the stage steps and noticed people staring at me. "Oh! I forgot about that particular effect…thanks so much for the dress again, Ames."

She waved me off and I lost her in the crowd as various choir singers began bustling around, getting in place. I took my spot with the soprano section, and saw Amelie standing front and center in the alto section. Flitwick stood in front of us and cued us with his wand, beginning to conduct.

'_It's Christmastime, there's no need to be afraid  
At Christmastime, we let in light and we banish shade_

_And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy  
Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime_

After a few bars, I looked over to where Charlie was sitting, and he was staring at me practically with stars in his eyes. He'd never heard me sing before, and my small solo was coming up.

_But say a prayer, pray for the other ones  
At Christmastime it's hard, but when you're having fun_

I took a deep breath, turned away from Charlie, and focused on Flitwick's conducting.

_There's a world outside your window  
And it's a world of dread and fear_

I was thankful when George Browning joined me with the next line.

_Where the only water flowing, is the bitter sting of tears_

Oh thank God that was over. When the song was finished, everyone applauded, and Flitwick encouraged me along with the other soloists to take a bow. Charlie tossed a wink at me and I shakily smiled at him. If I could barely sing a two line solo in front of my schoolmates, how was I going to perform my ballet variations in front of hundreds of people, including people who could decide my future?

I stumbled into the second song half a bar late, as my thoughts had prevented me from seeing Flitwick raise his wand, and the fourth year next to me shot me a dirty look. I stifled a smile as I joined in.

'_The old home town looks the same as I step down from the train,  
and there to meet me is my Mama and Papa.  
Down the road I look and there runs Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries.  
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home._

Flitwick chose mainly Muggle songs for our performance, and he'd said this particular song was supposed to make people excited to go home for the holidays. Personally, it made me a bit sad that I was going to spend Christmas alone in America. But in the long run, it was a small sacrifice for the chance at a future doing what I loved.

_Yes, they'll all come to see me, in the shade of that old oak tree_

_As I lay me in the green, green grass of home'_

As we finished the second song, we promptly cleared the stage so that Amelie could sing her solo. I mouthed 'good luck' and crossed the expanse of floor in front of me as quickly as I could, reclaiming my seat next to Charlie.

"You were amazing," he whispered in my ear, his breath tickling the exposed skin of my neck.

I playfully shushed him, grabbing his hand and kissing it when he pretended to pout.

"I can't wait to hear this again, she sings it so well," Miles muttered eagerly.

Amelie cast a charm that would project her voice throughout the room, not quite as loudly as the Sonorus charm would, and nodded at the pianist.

_I've heard there was a secret chord  
That David played, and it pleased the Lord  
But you don't really care for music, do you?  
It goes like this  
The fourth, the fifth  
The minor fall, the major lift  
The baffled king composing Hallelujah_

Amelie closed her eyes briefly and I saw her suck in the air from her diaphragm the way she'd practiced for weeks.

_Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah_

Even I was impressed, and I'd heard her sing thousands of times before. Her voice was strong, melodic, and filled the room easily. It sounded like a thick layer of honey was being spread over me as I listened to her.

_I did my best, it wasn't much  
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch  
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you  
And even though it all went wrong  
I'll stand before the Lord of Song  
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah_

Her voice stilled as she prepared to belt out the final 'hallelujah,' and Miles grinned in anticipation. Amelie finished with a flourish, her voice having held the chord for a full sixteen beats. There was a moment of collective silence, before everyone erupted in applause. There were wolf whistles, even shouts for her to marry several people from the crowd.

She laughed happily, thanked everyone, and then rushed off stage, running over and flinging herself blissfully into Miles' arms.

"Thank you so much everyone, and now the hired band, The Hobgoblins, will play a set from their latest album, Dragon Dung," Flitwick squeaked, and all of a sudden the room erupted into shrieks and squeals of delight. Stubby Boardman had quite the fan base among teen girls.

Immediately Amelie took Miles to dance, but Miles didn't seem to care. Tonight, he would follow her anywhere.

Anders looked to where Abigail and George were dancing and turned to Hannah. "C'mon."

Hannah shot me a look that said, 'what can you do?' and followed him onto the dance floor, pale pink dress swishing behind her.

Griffon nervously tried to avoid looking at Annalisa but she grabbed his face in between her hands. "Griffon, am I going to have to drag you onto that dance floor by your ear, or are you going to come willingly?"

He gulped and ruffled his hair. "I, uh, plead the fifth?"

She grinned wolfishly. "Muggle law doesn't apply to this situation…" Annalisa said threateningly, inching her fingers towards his ear.

"All right, all right! I'm coming!" Griffon straightened his tie masculinely and, chin up, lead the way towards the stage.

Charlie pounced the second they walked away. "So are you going to tell me about whatever Anders did to piss you off?"

I drummed my fingers against the table as I thought, absentmindedly enjoying the way the silver polish reflected the fireball centerpiece. Anders was one of his best mates, and I wasn't sure if I could trust him to keep his mouth shut.

At his goading look, I sighed. "Earlier today I was taking a walk and I saw Anders and Abigail snogging. It apparently wasn't the first time."

"Does Hannah know?"

"No. And he doesn't intend to tell her." I gritted my teeth, looking over to where Hannah was obliviously dancing with a boy who had eyes for someone else.

Charlie whistled between his teeth. "Well, at least Anders and Hannah aren't officially dating. That could complicate things even more."

"I know it's an 'open relationship' or whatever, but Hannah likes him, I mean really likes him! She was contemplating giving him her virginity, tonight! And Anders has done nothing but stare at Abigail since this thing started," I cried, wringing my wrists.

He grabbed my hands and held them tightly in his. "Cadence, whatever happens, it is not your fault. You can't protect Hannah from everything. As her friend, you're simply there to support her decisions, not make them for her. Tonight, should be about having fun. So, what do you say we have some fun?"

I glanced over to where Hannah was dancing with Anders, over to where Miles was twirling Amelie around and around. I had vowed to make this night about Amelie, but here I was working myself into a tizzy over something that didn't even concern me.

Slowly, a smirk spread across my face. I stood and grabbed a hold of Charlie's tie delicately. "Let's go, loverboy."

Jokingly, Charlie snapped his teeth together, eagerly following me into the throes of sweaty adolescents.

"Cadsy, my bestest friend in the whole wide world!" Amelie cried, flinging her arms around me the moment Charlie and I found them in the crowd.

At my questioning look, Miles sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "A tray of champagne was floating by…she had two glasses."

As I was about to read Miles the riot act, Amelie buried her head in my neck. "I'm sorry Cadsy," she moaned. "I know I shouldn't be drinking, but, I pr-promise that this is all for fun, and I'm n-not drinking because I'm sad. Promise."

I sighed and gave her a brief hug, before returning her to an upright position. "Hey, tonight's all about fun, right?"

Miles gave me a grateful look, and, as the song changed to a heavy rock tune, I threw my hands up in the air and cheered with the rest of my classmates.

Charlie grinned and grabbed ahold of my hips. "I love seeing this side of you."

Somewhat uncomfortable with him touching him touching all of my excess skin, I wriggled out of his grip and faced him, covering for my behavior by stealing Miles away from Amelie. I winked teasingly at Charlie, and pulled Miles towards Griffon and Annalisa.

After nearly an hour of dancing, where I'd danced with all of my friends and even sent a smile towards Humphrey (who I then had to run away from), I sat down at our table, sweaty, red-faced, and with sore feet.

"Ow," I simpered, giving Charlie my best doe eyes. "Charlie? Would you pretty please give me a foot rub?"

He looked back and forth between my swollen, sweaty, blistered feet and my big, hazel eyes. "Oh all right," he sighed in defeat.

"You know a guy is whipped when he rubs a bird's foot and it's _that _disgusting…no offense Cadence," Griffon added quickly, after Annalisa whacked him across the head.

I shrugged, unoffended. "Hey, I don't see anyone rubbing _your_ smarmy feet Griff! Oh yeah, that's the ticket." I moaned as Charlie kneaded a particularly tough spot.

After a few beats, Stubby Boardman, the lead singer, got on the microphone. "All right guys and gals, we're going to switch it up with a love song, so grab a boyfriend, girlfriend, old friend, hey! Even make a new friend, just get out here on the dance floor."

Miles gallantly got down on one knee. "Amelie Adams, may I have this dance?"

Amelie smiled widely, and I sighed happily into Charlie's shoulder. Miles was doing everything right tonight.

Anders grabbed a glass of champagne that was floating by and downed it in one gulp, turning away from Hannah, who was peering at him hopefully. She sat back in her seat dejectedly and contented herself with toying with the table lights.

Nervously, almost twitchily, Griffon asked Annalisa to dance, who bemusedly accepted.

"Do you want to dance Cadence?" Charlie inquired, setting my feet back down on the ground.

I tilted my head and watched the lovesick students on the dance floor, all of whom were anxiously peering at their partners, then glanced at Hannah. "No, can we sit this one out? I'm sure by the end of the night we'll have another chance."

Hannah smiled at me gratefully, and I returned it, before giving Griffon the finger under the table.

I pulled my chair closer to Charlie's and snuggled up against him. "Miles and Amelie look so happy," I sighed.

"Yeah, you're right…is it too late to get my money back from the bet?"

I scoffed. "Yes! You're such a sore loser! But it doesn't matter because by the end of the night, I'll be filthy rich."

"Oh yes, a whole two sickles will buy you the kingdom you've always dreamt of," Charlie joked, tweaking my nose.

Smiling softly, I leaned my forehead against his, nearly getting lost in his deep brown eyes. "I'm really happy."

"I'm glad." Charlie extended a finger beneath my chin and pulled me in for a kiss. Eagerly I molded my lips to his own, sucking the sweet taste of the champagne off his lips.

"Ahem. There are other people sitting at this table you know."

We pulled apart and, irritated, I gave Anders my best death glare. "Anders, when are your lips not attached to Hannah's in public? We have to eat while listening to your moans and groans, for God's sake!"

"Yeah, seriously mate? You pretty much just ruined a moment," Charlie added grumpily.

Despite the squabble going on at the table and the happy couples swaying back and forth, my eyes suddenly zeroed in on Professor McGonagall, who had just entered the hall looking very harried. She quickly walked over to Dumbledore, who was sitting at the Professor's Table, joyously overseeing the formal, and began whispering to him hurriedly.

I watched, every muscle tensed, as their gazes shifted over to where Amelie was dancing with Miles.

"Oh God," I whispered in horror, the champagne I'd had suddenly making my head spin.

"What, what is it?" Charlie asked worriedly. "Cadence?"

McGonagall was now walking towards Amelie, her expression forlorn but determined. I don't know what was going on, but I knew I had to get to Amelie before McGonagall did. I leapt out of my chair and lifted up my dress so that I could run.

"Cadence, where are you going?" Hannah called after me in confusion. I elbowed my way through the crowd, receiving many harsh glares or jeers, and I could hear my robes tear as they got stepped on, but I kept moving. I only had eyes for Amelie, whose back was turned to the professor. Miles whispered something in her ear and she giggled.

"Amelie!" I called out, but my voice was lost in the sudden swell of the music. "Amelie!" I tried again, desperately trying to get her attention.

"Hey man, don't ruin the moment here!" yelled some drunken kid, pushing me slightly. I lost sight of Amelie and cursed the idiotic boy. I moved faster, not caring anymore as I blatantly shoved swooning couples out of my way.

My shoulders slumped in relief as I came to a stop in front of my best friend. "Amelie!"

"Cadence?" she stepped away from Miles and grabbed my arm. "Are you okay? What's going on? Why are you crying?"

I reached a shaky hand up to my face and discovered that my cheek was wet. "Oh, I-I don't know. Listen Amelie, I think somethin-"

"Miss Adams," McGonagall cut in. I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit when Amelie turned around to face her. She took one look at McGonagall's expression and put a hand to her mouth.

"No, no, nonono," Amelie moaned, swaying on her feet. Miles wrapped an arm around her to steady her, but I felt frozen.

McGonagall took a breath. "Miss Adams, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. Earlier this evening, his brain started to swell, and he was rushed into surgery. I was told that it was a very complicated procedure and lasted nearly six hours, but they couldn't save him. I'm very sorry Miss Adams, but your father has passed away."

Our professor looked down, away from our faces, and Amelie let out a shriek of horror, garnering the attention of everyone on the room. The music stopped.

"What's going on?" someone muttered.

Miles caught Amelie was she began to fall and lowered her gently to the ground, cradling her in his lap. I rushed over, grabbing her face.

"Amelie? Amelie, look at me! Everything's going to be okay, everything will be all right, okay? I promise, I really, really promise," I sobbed, gasping and spluttering as I tried to control my own tears. Amelie cried harder and I could feel her tears running down my forearm.

Miles held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. He wasn't saying anything, he was just holding her. My body felt hollow as I tried to stem my best friend's flow of tears, ignoring the students that were gaping down at us unabashedly. Merlin? I'm not the only one that needs saving anymore.

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**A/N-Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, every happy or completely morose bit of it :) To make up for the time it took me to get up Chapter 17, I wrote this chapter quickly, and it's extra long! Please drop a review to give me some feedback on my writing.**

**Up next: Four weddings and a funeral - scratch that, just a funeral. And wheelchair races. And wet snogs. Until then my lovelies!**


	19. A Bad Dream

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the ingenious JKR! I also don't own the rights to the song A Bad Dream by Keane, which partly inspired this chapter. Enjoy!**

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**A Bad Dream**

"I'm..I'm very sorry Miss Adams, but we need to get you to St. Mungo's right away. There has to be a decision about what to do with…with the body." McGonagall tread carefully on her words, looking down at the heap of students on the floor.

At this point, Amelie was no longer crying. She was huddled in Miles' lap, silent, not saying a word, just staring.

"Amelie?" I said quietly. "We need to get up. Okay? Can you do that?"

She stared straight through me.

"I've got it Cadence," Miles muttered. Delicately, he lifted her up, cradling her in his arms. "Where to Professor?"

The troubled McGonagall led the way out of the hall. Miles, carrying Amelie, followed behind. Without even looking back, I fell into step behind them. The students parted for us like we were a wave coming through the crowd.

By the time we'd reached the doors to the Entrance Hall, Charlie, Griffon, Annalisa, Hannah, and Anders had all come over, and were walking in a straight line behind me. It looked like a funeral procession. In a way, I suppose it was. We walked silently through the halls, the only sound being our shoes hitting the stone. No one said a word until McGonagall muttered the password to Dumbledore's office.

One by one we wound our way up the staircase. I never took my eyes off of Amelie. I hardly even noticed when Charlie slipped up behind me and grabbed my hand.

Dumbledore was already seated in his office when we entered, hands folded neatly on his desk, despite the fact that we had left the Great Hall ahead of him.

"Miss Adams, words cannot express how sorry I am for your loss. Ordinarily, you would be granted time off from school, but as it is now officially the holidays, you have two weeks to get any affairs in order. If you feel like you need more time, you can put in a request to Professor McGonagall. The Head Healer at St. Mungo's is waiting for you in his office. Would you like someone to accompany you?"

I stood immediately. "I'll go."

"I'll go as well," Miles said, still holding Amelie.

"And me!" Charlie added. Everyone else nodded their assent.

McGonagall looked alarmed. "Well hold on now, all eight of you cannot go into the man's office. Weaver, Duckworth, I'll allow the two of you to go. Everyone else may go to the hospital and wait in the antechamber."

Wordlessly, I threw some floo powder into the fireplace so that Miles and Amelie could go ahead. I stepped in after they had gone, and the last thing I saw before the green flames blocked my vision was Charlie smiling at me reassuringly. I couldn't bring myself to smile back. Mr. Adams was dead. He was supposed to have six months…instead he'd had only a few weeks. I wondered what went so horribly wrong.

I appeared in a spacious room. The first thing I noticed was that everything was white. The second thing I noticed was Amelie now standing on her own, her face holding the ugliest look I'd ever seen.

"What's she doing here?" she spat, glaring at Marguerite as though she had been the cause of her father's death.

The Head Healer looked taken aback. "Well, seeing as how she was married to Mr. Adams, his will requested that she be present."

"Can't you see the money sign on her forehead? The only thing she's here for is whatever my father awarded her from his estate." Amelie was venomous, no longer caring about niceties with her step-mother.

Marguerite lifted her head from the handkerchief she'd been sobbing into. "Amelie, I know this is hard for you, but it's hard for me too. I cared very deeply for Joshua, same as you."

My stomach churned at her obvious acting.

"Fine, let's get this over with," Amelie said. "The sooner we give this cow her money, the sooner she'll be gone from my life."

A man appeared beside the healer. I hadn't noticed him standing behind the desk. "Hello, my name is Jeremiah Boisvert, the head of Boisvert Funeral Parlor. I'm here to ask you, first and foremost, if you want a funeral at all."

When Amelie started to crumble at the question, Miles stepped forward and whispered into her ear. "She says, her father wanted to be buried in the cemetery next to his first wife, Cassandra."

I was the only one that caught Marguerite's ugly look from behind her tear-stained rag. "Yes, Josh always did want a proper burial."

"Like you would know what he wanted!" I burst out, before I could stop myself. Heatedly, I apologized, and stepped backwards. This was not about me. This was about Amelie and Mr. Adams.

Mr. Boisvert took a stack of papers from the healer. "All right, now, these are just a few formalities. You will need to choose a casket, and flower arrangements, and give me a headcount on who will be present for the burial."

Marguerite took charge, looking at the catalogue of caskets and flower arrangements. While she chose, Amelie gave an estimate on how many people would come.

"There should be a lot of people," she whispered. "He was very well-liked."

It felt as though my chest was ripping open, seeing the pain my best friend was experiencing. The absolute worst part was knowing there was nothing I could do to lessen it. I couldn't bring her father back. I couldn't bring her mother back. She was officially an orphan. I exchanged a glance with Miles and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

The only thing I wanted to do was flee the room and let tears of my own fall, for Mr. Adams, for Amelie's heartbreak, but I stayed. I wasn't going to leave Amelie. And I wasn't going to America.

"How is she?" Charlie asked hoarsely as I walked into the waiting room, two hours later.

I fell heavily into the chair beside him. "Exhausted. Heartbroken. Furious. I don't know. Miles took her to get tea in the cafeteria. They should be up soon."

We were all silent for a moment. Hannah was asleep in her chair and Anders kept shooting furtive glances at her.

"I think I know how to make her smile," Griffon spoke up suddenly.

My brow furrowed. "How?"

Five minutes later we were sneaking several wheelchairs out of the closet. Charlie slid into one and gallantly swept out his arm. "M'lady?"

Rolling my eyes, I settled myself on his lap, and he took off down the hallway, Griffon and Anders not far behind. Amelie and Miles were just coming out of the cafeteria when we reached it. Griffon hastily got out of his chair.

"You chariot awaits, Miss Adams," he said with a bow.

Confused, she obligingly sat down, and, after a nod from Griffon, Miles grabbed the handles and raced it down the hall at warp speed. With a yelp, Charlie took off after them, and I gripped the arm rests for dear life. Anders wiped out as he rounded a corner, causing Griffon to topple out of the chair and into a wall.

I heard a giggle up ahead as Miles skidded to a stop just outside of the ward we had all been waiting in. As Charlie breathlessly wheeled me over to them, I was pleased to see a tiny smile on my best friend's face.

"Can we have a race?" she asked quietly. "I'd really like to get my mind off of things for a moment. In ten minutes I have to go back in and listen to the reading of the will."

I wrapped my arms around her. "Of course we can Ames. And I'm sure Charlie's going to kick everyone's arses! Right, Char?"

"Oh absolutely," he responded cockily. I took a seat next to the still sleeping Hannah, and Ames joined me. Griffon, Anders, Miles, and Charlie lined their wheelchairs up evenly, and when Annalisa cried, "go!" they all took off.

For a minute, they didn't really go anywhere, as they were getting used to maneuvering the chair, but soon they gained momentum and went flying down a small slope. Charlie ended up beating Miles by a nose, and the boys grinned and high-fived each other when they got to the end of the hallway. I think seeing the boys be boys cheered Ames up a little bit, but then the head healer was motioning for her to go into his office again.

"Miss Weaver, Mr. Adams has requested that you be present at the reading of his will as well," said Healer Strout.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. Or maybe I exaggerated a bit, but that's what it felt like.

"Come on then," Amelie mumbled, reaching out and gripping my hand for support. And so we walked into the office, together. Just like in third year when Cassandra died.

Now, instead of Mr. Boisvert, there was a grim looking man with an impressive beard standing in front of the desk. He introduced himself as Mr. Eckerds, Mr. Adams' financial advisor.

"I think we'll start off small, shall we? Furniture, physical property, that sort of thing. Mrs. Adams-"

"Marguerite," Amelie cut in angrily. "She does not deserve the same title as my mother."

Marguerite's nostrils flared, but chose to remain silent, probably to ensure she would get her galleons-worth.

Mr. Eckerds started again. "Marguerite, then, your late husband has stated that he would like you to continue to live on his property and will be given the funds to maintain it, under the condition that Amelie may come and go as she pleases, for as long as she wishes. She must always have a place to live. The furniture in the house, with the exception of Cassandra Adams' belongings, are yours. The rest are designated to Amelie.

"The vacation home in France will be put under Amelie's name, so that she has a place to live when she leaves school. Amelie will also be given control of her trust fund, and to Mr. Adams' personal account. Marguerite, though you will be given the money to maintain the property, you will not be given access to his fortune. It all belongs to Amelie."

I thought Marguerite was going to choke on her tongue. Her talons were gripping the arms of the chair so tightly that she started to leave indentations in the wood. Amelie looked elated for a moment, before remembering the reason for all of this.

"As for his company, he has here that he would like to turn over all of his shares to his daughter, and that she can choose whether or not to continue to run it, or to sell it. I personally will assist you if you decided to sell. Finally, we have one last item: Mr. Adams has another account, and it is to be designated to a Ms. Cadence Jane Weaver."

My jaw dropped on the floor. Mr. Adams was giving me money? He had an account for me? Me, Cadence? Amelie squeezed my hand.

I turned to her in confusion. "Did you know about this?"

"No," she whispered, shaking her head, "but it doesn't surprise me. He loved you, too."

Tears sprung to my eyes and I lowered my gaze, using all of my willpower to keep the waterworks in check.

Mr. Eckerds peered at us over his glasses. "It says here that this account was created in 1986, and that it has 20,000 galleons in it. It's all yours, with one condition: that you use it to start your career as a professional dancer."

I lost it right there. All the tears that I hadn't shed this evening. The fight that I had given my best efforts. Water started gushing out of every crevice as I broke down and sobbed.

"Excuse me," I managed, and I fled. I was a coward, I was pathetic, and I was not worthy of Mr. Adams money, especially when I couldn't even take care of his real daughter.

"Cadence?" Charlie stood up abruptly from his chair, looking at me with concern. I shook my head and kicked off my shoes, sprinting down the hall. I had to get away. I needed to get away from here. The fluorescent lights, the white walls, the sterile atmosphere… I needed to leave.

I heard footsteps pounding after me. "Cadence, stop!" Charlie called, catching up to me. "What's wrong? Tell me, so I can help you."

"Don't help me!" I choked. "Help Amelie! I'm not important!" To be honest, I don't think he could understand me because I was crying so hard.

He wrapped me in a hug and stroked the back of my hair. "Shh, Cadence, stop crying. Everything will be all right. I'm here. Your friends are here. You'll be okay. Just take a moment and breathe, okay?"

I tried to do as he said and focused on taking deep, shuddering breaths. After a few moments, I felt the flow stop, and the tears on my cheeks began to dry. I gave a small hiccup and pulled back. "I'm sorry," I muttered tearfully. "I just-he left me money, a lot of it! More than he left his own wife! He was thinking of me, just like he was thinking of Amelie. And it just reminded me that he was my father too. I never had one. Mine lives in Canada! I've met him less than a dozen times. My step-father and I don't get on…Mr. Adams was my father. And he's gone!"

Charlie used his thumbs to wipe away any remaining traces of tears. "He loved you. And you loved him. But that love doesn't have to stop just because he's gone. If anything, that money will be a reminder of how much he cared about you, for the rest of your life. You won't ever forget him or what he did for you. He made sure you were taken care of, like any real father would do."

I watched as Marguerite stalked out of the room and clacked down the hall, her heels making a staccato rhythm. As she passed, she gave me an icy glare and flared her nostrils. There was no sign of tears or sadness on her face. That fucking cow.

Amelie came out next and mumbled something to Miles, who immediately put an arm around her and pulled her into an empty room.

"He loved me," I whispered, a few stray tears streaking down my face. Charlie bent down and kissed the water drops individually before his lips met mine in a sweet, salty kiss. If I could have frozen time and stayed in any moment forever, it would've been that one. Because at that moment, I knew that even if Mr. Adams was gone, I still had someone who would take care of me, and he was right here, holding me like he would never let me go. "And I love you."

Charlie's face morphed into pure elation and he cupped my face in his hands. "I love you too, Cadence Jane Weaver. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met."

"Charlie…you're my home. Does that make sense?" I searched his eyes desperately, unaware of exactly what I was looking for.

He placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "It makes perfect sense. And Cadence, I just want you to know that you are not alone here. And neither is Amelie. We're all here for you, one hundred percent. All right?"

I nodded and thanked him quietly, still a bit numb from everything that just happened. It was like time was going at half-speed, but my brain was going double-time. Very disconcerting. "I have to go get Amelie. I think I'll bring her back to mine tonight. She won't want to be at her house, with Marguerite."

"I think that's a good idea," Charlie said, and led the way back to our friends. Anders was sitting slumped over in a chair, tux askew and hair a mess. Hannah was sleeping peacefully to his left, her legs curled up under her so her gown spilled gently over the edge and brushed against the floor.

Griffon had his arm around Annalisa, and the two looked straight out of a fairy tale. The strange part was that they were sitting on regulation white chairs, in a white hallway, in a hospital wing. We were out of place here. This was not supposed to happen tonight. It was supposed to happen in six months.

"Amelie? Miles?" I knocked gently on the shut door. "Can I come in?"

Magically, the door swung open, and I was immersed in darkness. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw a sleeping Amelie once again cradled in Miles' arms.

"How is she?" I asked softly.

Miles sighed. "She's worn out. From crying, from shock, from anger…I'm not really sure. She took a sleeping potion, and I've got one for anxiety as well. You'll have to give it to her in the morning."

"I'm going to take her home with me, will you help me get her there?" At Miles' assent, I hugged Charlie goodbye. "The wake will be tomorrow afternoon. I'll owl you with the details. The others don't have to come."

After Charlie left to inform the others, I gripped Miles arm. I had never side-alonged two people, but I'd have to make it work with what little energy I had left. Summoning the strength and forcing my mind to be on nothing but my back porch, I squeezed my eyes and turned on the spot.

When we reappeared, we landed ankle-deep in snow in my backyard, Miles still holding Amelie. She was snoring daintily. I unlocked the porch door and let him into the house. The lights flickered on automatically.

"Can you get her up the stairs to my room?" I asked quietly. He nodded, and I led the way through the tiny kitchen and ramshackle living room to the staircase. As we made our way onto the second floor, the hallway lights came on and my mother's bedroom door swung open.

"Cadence? What are you doing here? And who's this man? What's wrong with Amelie?" My mother had her bathrobe haphazardly flung around her body and was squinting in the bright lighting.

I sighed. "Mr. Adams is dead, Mum. It's a long story, and I'm exhausted. I'll tell you everything, in the morning. Good night."

And then I was letting Miles into my room and shutting the door behind me. I was past caring about niceties. "Just, uh, set her down on the bed. Yeah, that's good."

He placed her on the bed like she was made of glass and would shatter at any moment. While I slipped out of my dress so that I was in my slip, he took off her shoes and tucked her in.

"Hey, Miles," I said suddenly. "You're welcome to stay the night, if you want. The couch is a pull-out. And I know that Amelie would really like it if you were here when she woke up."

Miles shook his head. "If that's all right with you, I think I'll head over to Charlie's. Will you owl me as soon as she wakes up, though?"

I nodded. "Of course. You can come over at any time tomorrow, you don't have to wait for an invitation. And Miles?" He looked over from his position next to my bed. "Thank you. For everything. I couldn't have managed without you."

He gave me a wry smile, and, after placing a kiss on Amelie's forehead, came over and engulfed me in a hug. "It will be all right Cadence, we both know that. Now get some sleep, and we'll tackle the rest in the morning."

Once he was gone, I crawled into bed next to my best friend and placed my head on her shoulder. "Oh Ames," I whispered to the darkness. "It's you and me against the world again. But we'll be okay. I promise."

The last thing I remember before sleep overcame me was the expression on Charlie's face when I told him I loved him, and watching his own lips form the word. It wasn't me who needed saving anymore. It was Amelie.

* * *

**A/N: I am sooo sorry for the wait, guys! College took over, that evil beast. I know exactly what needs to go into the next chapter, I just have to transfer it from my mind to the laptop. Hopefully it won't be too long. Thanks so much for reading, and don't forget to drop a review to let me know what you think!**


	20. A Well Respected Man

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Carol Mirkel's poem, or the song A Well Respected Man by the Kinks. Enjoy!**

* * *

**A Well Respected Man**

"What do you think she'll do, then?" my mother asked grimly, gripping her tea mug. Will sat beside her with a somber expression.

I sighed and raked a hand through my damp hair. "I have no idea. I suppose I'll go with her to see the company's vice president, get his opinion on things. I'm sure she doesn't want everyone to lose their jobs, but she has no idea how to run an entire company."

"Where will she stay?" Will asked. I peered out the window, the bright sunshine seeming wrong, just like I felt out of place being in my kitchen on a Sunday morning instead of in the Great Hall at school.

"Well, she's magically allowed to live at the main estate with Marguerite, but I doubt she'll want to do that. The title to their home in France was given to her." The black dress I was wearing felt wrong. It was too tight, too stiff.

My mother wiped away a few tears. "That's good, at least. Now, what about you? You're supposed to leave for America tomorrow morning."

My stomach clenched as I looked her in the eye. "I'm not going. Amelie needs me, I'll stay here." It pained me so much to say that, knowing how much time and money my mother had spent to get me to this point. I may never get the chance to go again.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I knew she wanted me to shake my head, but I couldn't do it.

"Cadence, you're going." At Amelie's voice, I turned around in surprise. She looked fine, strong, even. She had changed into the clothes her house elf had sent over, and had brushed her hair and washed her face.

I shook my head vehemently. "Amelie, this is just some stupid competition. I can always audition again next year. But you need me here with you right now. You're more important."

She slid into the seat beside me and gripped my hand. "I love you Cadence, know that. But I _don't _need you. I have Miles, and my grandparents. And it would be selfish of me to keep you here. I'd feel awful knowing that you would be missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Please go. It would make me so happy if you came back with that money, with job offers and contacts. Please."

"Are you positive? I don't need to go. I would be more than happy to stay here Ames. Think about it," I begged. How could I leave her like this?

"I'm positive. You must go, and kick arse. You've worked _so _bloody hard, and you deserve to go and win. I'll still be here in two weeks." Amelie smiled at me and it was all I could do not to crumble to the floor. She was being so brave, when all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers in my room and pretend this was all a bad dream.

I frowned. "But…I can't go. All of my things are at Hogwarts."

My mother shook her head. "Don't worry about that. I'll use your owl and get Dumbledore to send a goblin over with your things."

"An elf, Mum, not a goblin." I smiled in spite of myself at her cluelessness.

"Then it's settled!" Amelie declared. "Tomorrow you will go to the airport and go back to Fatty-a-go-go land."

She really was the most wonderful person I'd ever met.

* * *

Griffon and Annalisa ended up coming. Anders, shockingly, declined, although I was grateful he had come to the hospital with us last night. Hannah apologetically told us that she had to catch the train home because she had vacation plans with her parents.

Charlie and Miles showed up shortly after the discussion I had in the kitchen with Amelie and my mother, the former bringing over casserole dishes and pies from his mother, the latter bringing flowers.

The eight of us crammed into the two cars my family owned, and an hour later we arrived at Boisvert Funeral Parlor. A plethora of cars were already in the parking lot, and people of all ages were flooding through the door.

I gripped Amelie's hand tightly as we were greeted at the door by an elderly gentleman who handed us a placard that had a photo of Mr. Adams on it, with a poem underneath.

_"I'd like the memory of me  
to be a happy one.  
I'd like to leave an afterglow  
of smiles when life is done._

_I'd like to leave an echo_  
_whispering softly down the ways,_  
_Of happy times and laughing times_  
_and bright and sunny days._

_I'd like the tears of those who grieve,_  
_to dry before the sun_  
_Of happy memories that I leave_  
_When life is done."_

Amelie sniffed and smiled softly. "That fits him perfectly. Thank you."

The two of us slowly wandered down the hall, looking at all the photographs displayed while everyone else signed the Memory Book. Since this was a Muggle funeral home thanks to Mr. Adams' many Muggle friends, the pictures were still shots: Amelie and her parents in France, Amelie and her father playing on a playground, her father playing tennis with some coworkers, Mr. Adams when he was two, six, seventeen.

Finally, we came to the entryway to the parlor. Amelie breathed in sharply, stopping as though there were an invisible wall in front of her. You could practically smell the mourning.

Miles leaned over and whispered in her ear, holding her other hand, and she took a step forward, the toe of her shoe crossing onto the carpet. Slowly, without looking at the casket, she took her designated seat next to Marguerite. I settled beside her with her grandparents on my other side. My mum and Will walked over to the casket and made the sign of the cross, kneeling down.

It was suddenly very hard to breathe. I still hadn't looked over at the casket, because it was open. A slew of people formed a line to give us their respects, patting our hands and saying the same words: _I'm sorry for your loss. _

They were sorry, but what did these people know? They knew business Mr. Adams, closed-off and in-charge Mr. Adams. They didn't beg him to give them ice cream for breakfast on hot summer days. They didn't get tossed around in the pool by him. They didn't know how infectious his laughter was, how his smile, so like Amelie's, could light up a room.

Finally, once everyone had arrived and had taken a seat, I slowly got up and walked steadily over to the casket. I had pleaded with myself not to cry, but staring at him, his skin sallowed and his arms crossed peacefully over his chest, I wanted to bawl. With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I leaned over and kissed his cheek, feeling the cold stiffness of his skin.

Amelie came up beside me and I stood there while she stared at the man who had taught her how to throw a ball, how to be a friend, how to make others smile lay still in the coffin. After several minutes, a preacher came in to say a few prayers.

I hardly listened to a word the preacher said. I'd never placed much stock in religion and couldn't force myself to hear him talk about how the angels were welcoming him with open arms. There were people who took comfort in this, who nodded their heads and held handkerchiefs to their noses, but all I could think about was how quickly everything had turned to shit.

After the preacher finished, we sat in the parlor for another two hours until calling hours were over. Most people had shown up at the beginning, but a few trickled in later, shaking Amelie and Marguerite's hands, offering condolences to the parents. Miles fetched tissues and water and tea for Amelie, being attentive and putting on a brave face for her. However strong she had felt this morning, it had all changed when we walked into this room.

Finally, my mother and Will led us all back out to the parking lot. Griffon and Miles apparated back to the Burrow with Charlie, while Annalisa came back with Amelie, my mother, and Will in the cars. The morning sunshine had turned to afternoon rain, and I watched Amelie watch the rain drops sliding down the car window like tears.

I wanted to hold her, to tell her everything would be all right and that her father would always remain with her, but I felt frozen, like I couldn't open my mouth or extend my arms. I was just so sad.

When we got back to the house, my mother was great at keeping us distracted. A house elf had brought all my dance clothes and my costume for the competition, as well as clothes for Amelie and her easel. She sat in the living room for hours, swirling paint with her fingers and using brushes of all sizes. The last I saw of it, the image of a man walking down a path was taking shape.

Annalisa and I sat in the kitchen watching television, although I wasn't processing the pictures moving across the screen, and the punch lines on the cheesy family sitcoms were missed by me. None of us ate dinner, although my mother tried to make us.

Eventually I retired to my bedroom. Annalisa was sleeping on an old air mattress on my floor. I drifted in and out of consciousness, but I think Amelie crawled in beside me somewhere around two in the morning. We all pretended to be sound asleep but we could all hear the sadness in the silence.

The next morning, my mother served eggs and sausage, which nobody ate because the boys had already eaten at Charlie's house, and Amelie, Annalisa and I weren't hungry. Instead of us driving back to the funeral home, a sleek, black limo pulled into the driveway.

"It's part of the funeral home service," my mother explained. After we all piled in, Amelie, Miles, Charlie and I taking the backseat, we drove in complete silence to Wiltshire. Once we were there, Will, Charlie, Miles, and Griffon all got out to help the pallbearers load the casket into the hearse.

I'd never seen something so grim as watching the hearse driver and the pallbearers place Mr. Adams' coffin into the death car. Amelie pretended not to care, but I heard her breathing hitch when they closed the door.

My heart turned to stone as the funeral procession stopped traffic throughout the town. People in their cars stared at us sadly through their windows as car after car followed the hearse to the cemetery, the toll bells from the church next to the funeral parlor still ringing.

There was a hole ready and dug in the ground towards the back of the cemetery. There was an entire plot for various Adams family members, but tears started streaming down Amelie's face as she saw her parent's graves side by side.

"Amelie, you can get through this. You're more than strong enough. That's what makes you a Gryffindor," I whispered to her as we joined the throng of people gathered around the grave site.

Since we had forgone having a church service, people began forming a line to make speeches about Mr. Adams. Amelie declined giving a eulogy, so Marguerite gave it, fake sniffles and sobs periodically breaking out.

Mr. Boisvert stepped forward. "Is there anyone else who would like to say something about Mr. Joshua Adams?"

Without even thinking, I stepped forward, my feet propelling me to the front of the crowd. I blanched, seeing the coffin set over the hole, but turned and looked at the mob of faceless mourners. After finding Charlie's face, I focused my thoughts.

"Mr. Adams was…like a father to me. My relationship with my own father isn't very good and I never really knew him, but when I met Amelie and her parents when I was eleven, it was like being welcomed into another family. For ten years, I felt like such a black sheep because I only had a mother, and then a step-father, which was unheard of in my neighborhood.

"Mr. Adams and his family gave me another chance, and they've given me so much over the years: happiness, strength, trust, loyalty…love. Mr. and Mrs. Adams will be missed, but what's important is that they will never be forgotten." My voice and legs were both shaking, and I barely managed to keep my balance as I weaved through the crowd back to where Amelie was standing.

_Thank you_, she mouthed, squeezing my hand. I wrapped both of my arms around her as we watched the casket get lowered into the ground.

* * *

The funeral reception was held at Amelie's house in Wiltshire. For everyone who had never been there: ie, my mother, Will, Charlie, and Annalisa, it's breathtaking. It's set on a hill overlooking a lake, and it's absolutely mountainous. There's an indoor and an outdoor pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium, and an entire room with every make and model of every make that Mr. Adams' company ever made.

Several work staff served us platters of fresh fruit, pasta dishes, steak, grilled vegetables…everything you could imagine. I still wasn't hungry, and I felt uncomfortable sitting at the large dining room table. I knew Amelie felt it as well. Usually when we ate meals here, we ate in the kitchen, where it was cozier. This room was only ever used when Mr. Adams had important company over.

Then again, I supposed we were all "important company" now. I teared up as I thought about how the family had grown so small over the years that now it was just Amelie and I. Thinking about just the two of us eating a meal in the kitchen was one of the most depressing images I'd conjured in a while.

"Oh god," I muttered, feeling sick. These past few days had been absolutely surreal. I felt like I was living in a dream, no, a nightmare. I pushed back from my chair. "Ames, I'm going to get some fresh air, are you coming?"

At her nod, the pair of us got up and walked out of the dining room, leaving everyone staring after us. The second we were outside I felt like a thousand pounds was lifted off of my chest. "I always hated that room."

"Me too," Amelie replied, and when I looked at her she cracked a smile. Without a word, we ended up at a spot that we'd spent most of our summer in when we were younger. There was a great oak tree hanging over the lake, and Mr. Adams had attacked a rope to one of the branches in second year.

For a moment, we just stood and stared across the lake. It was heated by magic so it wasn't frozen, but the temperature outside was cold enough that there were no signs of life from any fish. I jumped slightly as a bat flew by me, and Amelie snorted.

"Hey...you know what I want to do right now?" I asked her, eyeing the rope.

She followed my gaze and wordlessly stepped out of her shoes. Next thing I knew, she was down to her underwear and splashing into the lake.

"SHIT, IT'S FREEZING!" she screamed up to me, and I laughed like a lunatic. I kicked off my pants and shoes and hurriedly unbuttoned my shirt. As I gripped the rope in my hands, I swear I felt a reassuring gush of wind blow across my shoulders.

I stepped back, clung onto the rope, and flung myself out of the water. "HOLY SHIT YOU WERE RIGHT IT'S SO COLD!"

The pair of us laughed and laughed and laughed as we scrambled to get back to the bank so we could do it again.

_Thank you, Mr. Adams_, I thought as I glanced at my best friend, who was the best thing about me.

* * *

**I'm sorry for the wait, the morbidity of the chapter, and also for how short this is :/ I just felt like that was the place to end it. Again, so sorry for the wait, but if anyone's still here, feel free to leave a review!**


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